Life. Ain’t. Easy.
Can I get an AMEN? Anybody? So yeah, life on this earth ain’t easy. And that is probably the understatement of the decade.
Maybe it’s just the culture that we live in, but there is so much freakin’ pressure. Every where you look, there’s a Pinterest dream of a home where everything matches and only costs a dime, a housecleaning chart or recipe shared on Facebook sure to make your life a fairytale. It’s all bigger, better, faster, cuter, cheaper, neater…
GAH. There’s just so… much… pressure!
Welcome to the first week of our Hidden Ah-Ha’s of the Bible verses. For the next few weeks (months??) we will be looking verses that are in The Word, are totally awesome, but you may not have ever REALLY grasped onto before.
This week we start with my life verse, one of my absolute favs, found in 1 Thessalonians 5:24~
“The One who called you is faithful and He will do it.”
Just take a moment to let that sink in… The one who called you is faithful and He will do it. What an incredible promise! I’m encouraged just thinking about it!
A bit of context/background… This verse is found near the end of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. It’s pretty simple: he is giving some final instructions and encouragement before he signs off.
Cool, huh? (Sidenote: This is why I love God’s word. It was encouraging thousands of years ago… And still encourages us today. Talk about a true treasure to hold onto. Legit.)
Now. Let’s dig a little deeper and add some additional application to it.
God calls us to A LOT of things in this life… Perhaps some are permanent roles to fulfill: Parent, spouse, friend, employee, sibling, son/daughter, co-worker, neighbor, minister, etc, etc.
Others calls might seasonal: Leading a club or cause, volunteering with a ministry at church, playing on a sports team, you name it.
Still other calls involve ourselves: Work out, pay bills, maintain the house, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Oh. And let’s not forget what we are called to do as Christians: Love others, spend quiet time with the Lord, pray, encourage, help, build up, learn, grow. And rest. (RIGHT.)
Are you overwhelmed? Good. That’s what I was going for.
Just kidding. This post is not to overwhelm you. But instead it is to bring attention to the challenges of living on this earth. Sometimes it seems as if God is calling us to A LOT all at once. Seriously, as an army wife, mama and minister, there are times that my heiferish self just wants to put a hand on my hip, look up and say “REALLY, GOD? REALLY?” (I wouldn’t recommend this. Thou shalt not backtalk the One who give you, um, everything. But that’s another post.)
So when we are feeling up to our eyeballs, in, well, life, there’s some great news. The one who calls you is faithful and He WILL do it.
This verse doesn’t say He might do it. Or He will think about it. Or He wants you to give it a shot on your own before He gets involved. It says He WILL do it. If God calls you to it, He will help you through it. (That should be on a bumper sticker. I’d definitely put on my car.)
The one who calls you is faithful and He WILL do it. How. Awesome. Is. THAT?!?
God is with us every step of the way to answer the call(s) He has placed on our lives.
HOWEVER… This does not mean that it will be easy (darn) OR that He will allow us to do everything that WE want to do.
Which goes back to my original point of our culture putting so much pressure on us to be that Superstar Mama or Pinterest Homemaker of the Year. Yes, He wants us to experience full, abundant life– But He never meant for life to be a hurried, flustered stressful existence. We (most of the time) bring that on ourselves.
So today, as we embrace this beautiful hidden Ah-Ha from 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it,” let’s consider some of the following thoughts…
1. If you are currently feeling overwhelmed by the God-calls in your life, how can you lean on this promise to help you through? Where do you see God working TODAY?
2. Can you clearly draw a line between the loving expectations that God has for you versus the expectations you (or others) have placed on your life? Do it… Then embrace those God-calls and release the world-calls. (FREEDOM!!)
3. How does this promise encourage your heart? I always welcome feedback… Comment below!
Dear reader, no matter WHAT you are facing today as you answer continue on your God-called path, please take heart and remember… The one who calls you is faithful… And HE. WILL. DO IT!
All my prayers and encouragement to you.
He is Faithful,
SGK
“The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!” ~1 Thessalonians 5:24 MSG
