My Walk is Intentional…

I sat at my computer this morning, working and praying through the word, trying to develop the message for tonight. It was in hour three that God revealed that, while that word was good, it was for another time… so then I began to start over from scratch. Always with a ram in the bush, God gave me this to mediate on: Convenience vs. Intention, as it pertains to our faith. I will ask you a question later, but for now, let us learn about the difference.

Convenience:

It was not too long ago when I worshiped, praised, and served God only as it was convenient for me. I grew up in the church and when I became a whole adult at the tender age of 18, I started attending service only when I had time for it. My excuses for not attending were simple: 1. I did not have access to a car at my college, 2. I could only work on the weekends when I came home from school so money trumped church, or 3. I was tired. Those were my 18yr old excuses, yet as I got older, my excuses streamlined into one common truth- I did not have time for God.

We have all experienced it at one point of our lives (if you have not, just keep living). Something happens that pulls our focus away from God and causes us to think that God is an option. Eighteen-year-old Michelle was just lazy, however 29yr old Michelle was depressed and worn. For those 11yrs, I made time for God when it was convenient for me. If I wanted to do something, I did, however if I did not, I blamed a busy schedule for my absence.

During this time, God still loved and cared for me. He allowed every situation in my life to hold a point and purpose for my future. Even if I did not want to worship Him, He still gave me reason to rejoice. He was- and still is- intentional.

Intention:

While away from God, I did not realize what was happening in my life. It was not until I made Him a priority, that I realized how my past was affecting my today. Even my decision not to attend church or fully commit to Christ in the past, is currently guiding my life. That is how God works.

Everything that we go through in life is a part of a larger system that we cannot fully comprehend because we are not God. While we may not understand it now, every moment of our lives has formed together, in God’s divine way, to bring us to this post right now.

Meditate on this:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Psalm 139:13-16, ESV

Reflection…

Nothing happens by chance or coincidence. God is INTENTIONAL; He has foreseen and planned every single detail of our lives. Nothing surprises Him. This is why we must make the daily choice to serve and follow Him, because even in our absence, He can use that as a lesson and a blessing for Him.

When we say that our walk is intentional, we are saying two important things: 1. I am a child of God and 2. He has ordained and orchestrated my very being. We walk in the assurance that God is able to control and guide all that we do. We trust Him. We believe in Him. We give Him complete authority over our lives.

We have to realize that God is not an option; He is the priority. He is more important than any and everything else in this world. Remember Matthew 6: 33, “but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” This means that when we put God first, He will properly and accurately arrange everything else in our lives. He is intentional.

So here is the question:

Is your walk with Christ convenient or intentional?

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

(Jude 1:24-25, KJV)

Be blessed.