“Seek first the Kingdom Ashley. All the rest will be added to you; everything else will fall into place. Just seek first the Kingdom.”
This advice was given to me in a time where I had a big decision to make. This decision was one that would impact me and those around me in a big way…a decision that I couldn’t take lightly and needed to be sure of. I went home after hearing that with one question: how do I seek the Kingdom? This is a verse that I’ve heard all my life…seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33). Great. But never had I thought of how to live this verse out or what that would mean when applied to my life. Those weeks were some of the greyest weeks of my life. I couldn’t tell which options were for me, or which were for the kingdom. Where did God want me to go? What did God want me to do? How long would it take before this confusion faded into clarity? So I prayed. I prayed a lot. Over and over I came to His throne of grace asking for any kind of confirmation…whether big or small…just anything to show me where to go. I found myself opening up His Word looking for answers within those living pages. I found myself going to other people that I looked up to and trusted for sound advice, asking for help in this decision that needed to be made. And you know what? Over those grey weeks, confusion did fade into clarity. Not how I expected or in the time frame I anticipated, but I did come to the point where I was confident in what God was telling me to do. Maybe it’s just me, but seeking the Kingdom is hard. Really hard. In the case above it meant me putting aside my preferences and opinions and accepting that He knows better. It meant letting go of the reigns I held so tightly, and trust falling into His strong arms. It meant taking a step when I didn’t know where the path led, only knowing I was holding His hand and that He knew exactly where I would end up. During those weeks there were many many times where I felt frustrated and at a loss. I’m trying to seek, I really am, but I’m still so confused with no idea what to do. But it was in those weeks that I was taught patience. God never promised that if we seek first the Kingdom we will see results within 48 hours or get something back. His perfect timing might seem a whole lot longer than ideal to us. But if something is of true value and worth, we should be willing to keep pushing towards it, no matter how long it may take. Are we willing to seek the Kingdom? We are all seeking something. Maybe it’s comfort, love, stability, or success. I don’t know what yours is—only you and God know that. But I promise you that whatever you are pursuing, God can fill that need and desire. Let's not settle to go along with the motions and float through life. Instead lets choose to be active seekers of the Kingdom…to dive into His Word and ask God to reveal Himself to us. Let's not be passive…rather intentional about setting our eyes on Christ and watch as all the rest falls into place. Probably not in the way we were expecting, but let's be daring enough to let go of our plans and trusting enough to know it will work out even better in the end. Let's invest in something bigger than ourselves, and be Kingdom seekers.
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"You will either step forward into growth, or backwards into safety." --Abraham Moslow
This is a quote I found about a month into my time at Legacy, and it's on my mind today as in just 4 days this chapter of my life will be closing. Legacy is ending, and I'm moving back home. 6 months ago God called me to step out by moving to Ohio. He called me to grow in my relationship with Him, and quite honestly I didn't want to. Yes I liked the idea of being at Legacy to learn, but in reality I didn't want to leave my comfort zone. What I didn't realize at the time, was that if I'm not stepping forward into growth, I'm stepping backwards into safety. There is no middle ground, no time for being stagnant. Everything I do or don't do either propels me forward or sends me back. My time here at Legacy has been a time of intense growth. When you gaze upon the face of God you will be changed, and after 6 months of studying the Bible every day, I have changed. It's going to be hard for me to move away from Wooster because this church community has become family to me. I have grown to love this place and I know that when I move back home it will be really bittersweet. I don't want this chapter to close...I don't want to move on quite yet. And again I find myself leaning towards stepping back into safety rather than embracing the growth that He has planned in this new chapter of life. What growth are you shying away from? You might not even know that you are stepping back into safety until you take the time to ask Him to show you where you're unwilling to give up control and get uncomfortable. 6 months ago I squirmed when He told me to go and grow, but 6 months later I'm thanking Him that He did, because I'm not the person I was. My prayer is that 6 months from now we can look back at today as the day when we decided to step forward. That today would be the day we abandon our couches and embrace our crosses. That today, we would choose to grow. |