Close your eyes, and imagine yourself stranded in a desolate, barren desert. The only thing in your possession is a compass and the clothes on your back, and with every second that ticks by, the scorching heat is intensifying your unbearable thirst. It is that unending thirst that fuels you to set out in search of water. You have been told that there is a rushing river to the north, so with your compass as your guide you head off in that direction. After only a few small steps your body tells you to slow down and take it easy, so you stop to sit and regain the meager amount of strength that you still have. While resting, you glance around and something catches your eye. You do a double take and realize that in the opposite direction of your destination there was a small pond and cluster of greenery in the far off distance. Could it be? Would you finally be able to wet your tongue with the sweet, sweet water of life? With a sudden burst of energy you jump up and head toward the beautiful source of satisfaction that awaits you. But in your haste you had momentarily forgotten what you had been warned of: sometimes in the desperation of thirst and exhaustion, the desert can play tricks with your mind and convince you that something is real when in actuality nothing is there. It is called a mirage, and it proves to be one of the hardest challenges to overcome when one is trying to survive in the desert. What if this paradise that appeared up ahead actually turned out to be just a further extension of this dreadful desert? If that is the case, then you would have wasted a large amount of your limited supply of energy, and would be that much farther from the real source of water. Now you stand at the crossroads of a life or death decision: do you continue heading south, away from where you were told to find water, in hopes that this possible mirage turns out to be real? Or do you turn and continue to be guided north by your compass, with the intent of reaching the promised fulfillment of clear, sanctifying water?
Do you continue seeking after the ways of this world, which appear to offer a much more tangible satisfaction? Or do you continue on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal joy and fulfillment, even when it sometimes seems out of reach?
-> Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
3 comments:
This post is so amazing i cant even get over it. I have read it like 3x now and get something different each time. You are so dead on with everything. I think my favorite part is when you talk about stopping for a second because your body tells you that you need rest and thats when you get distracted and see the mirages. that is SO true... it's in those times that we are stagnant in our walk that we can get strayed so easily. And sometimes even when we KNOW the right way... we have God's word telling us which path to choose and we can feel the love of God, even then, we still have these moments where we think the things of this world are going to satisfy us. I know what you are going through right now brit, because i have been there ( as we both know ) and i have in no way mastered it but i do understand the draw you are feeling. It's so easy to set boundaries and have ideals of what you want but when you get in certain situations you realize just how strong the pull of the world can be. With that said, you have the strength of Christ at your side and can call on him in any of those times ( look at your wrist :) and i know you will do what you need to do in this situation and in any other time that you have to choose between what you know is right and something that you really want. I am probably going to be needing you to remind me of that in the next month or so but thats why this is so amazing that we have these blogs cause i know we can see where eachother is at and help each other through it.
It really is the straight and NARROW path and sometimes i think i forget that and think i can just be apathetic in my walk and i'll still be on the right path but the thing is that as soon as we stop following Christ....and i dont mean start walking in the other direction but just sitting down for a second that is exactly when Satan attacks us the most and we start looking for the easier things to fill us instead of going to the one thing that we know makes us truly complete.
I love your analogies brit, they are so obviously things that you get straight from God and i love that you admitted the other day that he is just blessing you with these things and it is not coming from you. I was just talking about you the other day and how much i feel the Holy Spirit in you, even when its just me calling and talking the entire time, all you have to say is a few words and i am instantly at peace.
Please keep that up. I will try to make more posts but really i like being selfish and just reading yours and then writing four page ramblings of my thoughts on it
<3
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