Spirit-Led Blogging

There were a lot of Awesome Things coming from our weekend in Portland visiting Tim and Lauren. A bagpiper riding a unicycle. A Hispanic folk band doing a photo shoot in the middle of a busy crosswalk. A stretch Geo Metro. If you've been to Portland, you know the list goes on.

But the One Awesome Thing came in my inbox last night. I've been writing this blog for 5 years this summer and it's never been about anything in particular; just random thoughts I've had about the world around me. I left one career (youth ministry) to pursue another (higher education management), which led me from home (Pittsburgh) to where I am today (Tacoma, WA). Despite the seemingly disconnected subject matter, one thing has been consistent; my faith in Jesus Christ.

Writing from the perspective of a twentysomething Christian has helped to engage in some conversations, but mostly with my friend, Meg. We worked together in high school, were friends outside of work for a while, and had lost touch until she started reading my blogs when they'd occasionally pop up. She contacted me to talk about being a twentysomething recovering from "church" (like many of us are), and the conversations have gone from there.

Meg recently made a Spirit-led decision with her life to relocate and wanted to share that with me. I couldn't be more thankful to know that the truths I've shared about who God is have resonated and helped Meg to explore and learn who God is on her own.

I often think about things to write about with the purpose of tooting the horn of my own opinions, but the Tim Keller sermon that Aly and I listened to in the car yesterday reminded us that the Gospel is about the blood of Christ and not our own interpretation, denomination, or philosophy. I'm thankful that I can look back at most of my writing and know that the Spirit and the blood of Christ have been in the marrow of my writing. When Meg reads anything that is good, she's reading the words of the Spirit written with my fingers. That's Awesome.

Following the Spirit

Sometimes life comes at a million miles an hour. Where you are today is not where you were a year ago, a month ago, or even yesterday. Your plate was empty last week but it is certainly full today and you don't think you can handle it. Desperation sets in and you want to shut down, pack your bag, and head to the wilderness for a while until people forget that you exist and have to maintain responsibilities. What your selfish flesh once wanted has now been dumped in your lap all at once and you should be happy, but you are confused and don't know how to make decisions anymore.

Weren't these good things that you wanted? Attention, opportunities, responsibilities? Your selfish desires have resulted in an overwhelming scenario that you can't handle. What's worse, you haven't been provided the OTHER good things that you also wanted. "Why now?" you wonder. And, "how do I get those other things like money or time, because they will surely make this journey simpler?"

It's times like these when God has given us what we need, not what we want, and we must seek the Holy Spirit to guide us through. When we feel overwhelmed, it's because we are trying to accomplish things on our own and not relying on the Spirit to carry us through. We cannot complete anything on our own. God is the only one who can. When we seek the Spirit, things get completed, our selfish desires seem less important, and the Lord is served in ways that we couldn't think of serving on our own. So today, take a moment to seek God in the confusion and chaos. He's provided these things because He wants us to seek his guidance in using them for His glory.