Moving In God's Energy

I watched a movie recently where the faith and trust of a woman was tested. Her marriage was suffering, despite flourishing careers and moving ahead.  Bad choices were made by the husband, costing him his job.  The woman learned prayer was her life line. It wasn’t an easy lesson to learn, however. Offering forgiveness and grace come hard, when there is so much anger and frustration.

This movie resonated with me. There have been times when I’ve been right where the main character was.  I was sad and wanted to “fix” my problems and couldn’t.  I was not in control and it took much prayer and submission to recognize that!

I’ve been described as moving like the “Energizer Bunny.”  It seems I almost never stop!  From the time my feet hit the floor until I crawl back in bed at night, I’m usually doing something – the more productive, the better.  

I’m not the only one like this.  Seniors across the nation strive to stay busy, (even though COVID has hampered this).  After a lifetime of “doing,” it becomes a way of life.  They search ways to be involved in community, politically, school systems and a host of other ways which are productive to both themselves and in public service. Still life has a way of causing knees to buckle, creating a need to slow down, re-evaluate and sometimes even change direction.

When our knees buckle in prayer, as our hearts meet with God, we can find renewed energy, even in places we hadn’t expected!  What is even better is when our “renewed energy” is a direct gift from God, leading because we’ve opened our minds to His voice. 

The Bible talks about being renewed daily.  But to be renewed every day, requires a commitment to meet with God because we want to, not because it’s in our schedule.  I admit, those little devotionals having a scripture and application message are easy to use and wonderful.  I’ve both used them and contributed!

Yet, there is a drawback. We sit down for three minutes, open to the right page (given they are usually dated), read the message and prayer, close the booklet and go on our way; done deal!  But is it?  What have we done?  We’ve done nothing more than allow another person to do our “work” for us.  We’ve likely not even opened our personal Bibles.  We’ve spent three minutes with the Lord without ever “giving of ourselves.”  There is hardly even a time sacrifice. 

Can you imagine having that kind of relationship with your spouse?  What if in the morning you simply picked up an index card, read whatever the message said to your loved one and then walked away without another word or thought all day?  How long would your relationship last?  It wouldn’t!  Yet, as Christians, very often that’s exactly how we treat God. 

I encourage you to evaluate your walk with God and decide if you are moving in God’s energy or through a fog?  Do you draw on Him to sustain your thoughts, actions, behaviors or attitude?