Have you already run aground?
If you have gone your own way with things then you will need to approach your situation differently. First, you must confess your rebellion. You must get to this point of honesty before God. It is unlikely he is surprised over your self-direction. He is probably grieved seeing the bigger, more restricting picture your personal choices have saddled you with, but spiteful? Nope. Loving. Yep. Confess your sins and set your heart on following him forevermore.
Second, you must ask God what he would now have you to do. Figure out what he would now have you do and set your eyes on that next signpost he will put alongside your highway. If you have decided to make him Lord of your life, then let him be such. Say, “Yes sir,” and mean it so much that you do it leaning on him for strength toward that end.
A word of warning: It is possible to rebel back to what you knew you were originally to do. Some doors of obedience may now be closed to you. There may be permanent scars, permanent problems from your original disobedience. Do not create new ones in an attempt to reset your life. Seek God in prayer, his answers in the scriptures, and his additional guidance through godly counsel.
Another word of warning: Never, never, never, make it your mode to go to one counselor after another until you find the one who tells you just what you want to hear. That is what the scriptures call a tickling of the ears. Rather, let God and his word be your guide to the way back. Be a prisoner of Christ Jesus. He can rebuild. Your final place may be different, but he is still trustworthy while you head off in that other, new, secondary, albeit God ordained new way.
Wraping up with church music
Some of us are evangelicals in our 40’s and 50’s. We grew up with hymns sung from hymnals. Our sense of the proper expression of worship, glory, and emotion likely devolves from singing ones part, loudly, and staying on pitch. No hands are raised, no guitars or drums are played, surely there is an organ, and lastly, the songs are directed by a male-oriented leadership whose eyes are not closed and his head not held back.
When I read the words that Swindoll, an honorable preacher older than I and one steeped in
Who will rescue us from these things? Thanks be to God who sent Jesus to make one new person out of two. That worked between the Jews and the Gentiles. It can work among the emotion-people and the intellectual ones. No extreme is healthy. Neither is moderation….unless…Jesus Christ via the Holy Spirit embodies it.
I wish you well on your journeys. May your sufferings result in glory. Remember God holds all things together both ups and downs, facts and feelings.
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