Growing Through Challenge

                                   "WHERE NOW?"

Have you ever found yourself asking that question? It seems life has a way of unfolding for most of us through unforeseen detours that cause us to question if anything will ever really change for the better.

Perhaps you find yourself in such a detour right now. Maybe your life is not working out at all like you once imagined. Possibly you are searching for better answers and finding mostly the bruising, ragged edges of a reality from which you would love to find a path out.

Since I am unable to change your circumstances, at least I can help you evaluate some key questions that may help you find a new course back to a better road and destination..

                                       BECOMING

Since our lives are not a fixed state but rather a fluid, ever-changing situation, a good question to ask yourself often is… “What am I becoming?” Truth is, we are all changing… everyday, little by little… for the better, or for the worse. Compared to your ideals, which way do you see yourself leaning?

                                       DIRECTION

The direction of your daily, seemingly small choices is ever so gradually taking you down a path closer to one of two destinies:

     • One path leads you to become more self-centered, which in turn tends toward smallness, selfishness and shallowness. Self-centeredness may be natural, but most of us would agree that it does not lead to genuinely rewarding ends.

     • The other path is exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. He lived life fully by finding great joy in caring for the concerns of others, and helping them where he could. He showed that life’s best is found, not in how much we can “get “, but in how much we can “give”.

Those who follow Jesus in this path are headed for a different destiny and are gradually becoming a very different kind of person.

                                    PAST & FUTURE

Are there some things about your past that you wish you could do over? The good news is that your past doesn’t have to rule your future. If you don’t like what you’ve been becoming, God is waiting for you with His gracious help to move you toward a wonderfully different destiny.

If you genuinely want to become a different kind of person on the inside, He is waiting to help you in more ways than you can imagine.

                                         CHOICES

Well, “becoming”…“direction”…“past & future”? A lot of it often seems to come down simply to our daily and hourly choices.

Try this… honestly survey some of your recent choices. Do they help to strengthen you and build you up? Do they contribute to helping you become more of the person you want to become?

If not, different choices might be the place to begin building a different future.

                                      LIFE CHANGE

Religion may have disappointed you in the past… you are not alone. Religion is man’s feeble attempt to find more about our Creator and life’s meaning.

Humans that we are, we often get it wrong. You may have given up on man… but please don’t give up on God.

Until now you may have viewed God as a “spoil- sport” or a “scorekeeper” who is just waiting to make your life miserable.   No one would want to seek such a god. I have found that God, through Jesus Christ is all about a fulfilled life instead.

                                RUN FROM… OR TO?

What if you tried a radically new approach? Instead of running away from God…try running to Him! Confess your sins to Him and receive His forgiveness and the abundant life that Jesus Christ talked about.

                                          PEACE?

Augustine, a 4th century Roman theologian prayed a prayer which has remained popular to this day… “Oh Lord, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

     • Is there a “restlessness” in your heart?

     • Is there an “empty place” that nothing material seems to be able to fill?

If anything I have written here strikes a chord of truth within you, please don’t let life’s demands distract you until you settle this issue with your Creator God. Don’t let this moment of the Father’s seeking you slip away!

                                    INNER CHANGE

Quiet your spirit; bow your head and your heart before the Infinite Creator of the Universe, who has invited you to call Him “FATHER”. Now, in your spirit just talk to Him in simple language about your need for relationship with Him.

There are no “magic prayer words”. Remember, He already knows your thoughts and has already been seeking you…long before you thought to seek Him.

Continue talking …and listening until you find your Heavenly Father’s quiet peace filling your heart with His hope and His help for your future.   You may sense this peace quickly, or it may come more gradually and subtly, over time.

Your circumstances may not change, but deep inside, you may discover something far more profound happening. YOU may be starting to change!

                                        NEXT STEP

If you have made it this far, you will likely begin developing many new and important questions.

Life-Change is no easy or effortless matter. Trying to understand this new relationship to your Creator is probably the most important thing you have ever done, so it is worth devoting vital and serious time to the quest.

Perhaps a first step would be to pick up a Bible and find the eye-witness accounts of the first followers of Jesus Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). John seems to speak to my heart the quickest. Try reading it very slowly and prayerfully and see if it doesn’t speak help and hope to your heart as well.

Eventually you will probably want to learn and grow from an association with other like-minded seekers on this same journey. Fellow-pilgrims are all around you if you only start to look.

                    A FREE LIFE-CHANGING WORKBOOK

If you would like to dig deeper into a wider range of subjects, you may also want to access my PRINTABLE WORKBOOK that offers exercises in helping you put these inspiring ideas into your practical daily life experience.

                       WELCOME TO THE ADVENTURE!