My RMGA Lesson: The Revelation
(Continued from My RMGA Lesson: The Setup)
Time warp back to this weekend at RMGA. On Saturday evening, Marta (one of the regional staff workers) spoke, as I wrote about in my last post. Embedded was a quote from George Müller that was headed to "rock my world", so to speak.
George Müller was an amazing man who lived in Bristol during the nineteenth century. He led an amazing life of faith and dependence on God. When I was much younger, we listened to an audio biography of Mr. Müller's life several times, and I was impressed by his dedication and faith. You can read more about his life's work at this page
George Müller said "Either we are full of God and our interactions with others are the overflow of that interaction, or we are not full of God and we're trying to fill that need through others." Suddenly, as if illuminated by lightning, I saw it. As with Martha and Mary, being with the people of God is not like being with God, and one cannot substitute one for the other. I was trying to be with God by being with the people who were with Him. (if that makes any sense). Rather than being disciplined enough to seek God through prayer and His word, I was trying to find Him through His creation.
As I considered more, other pieces fell into place. Of course I was super- (sometimes overly-) careful about who my friends were. If I needed my friends to be "higher on the ladder" than I was, that would substantially reduce the set of people who I would like to be my friends. If I was looking for God in my friends, of course I would abuse the privilege of Godly fellowship either in person or by email. (this has happened several times in the last decade or so.)
I felt like the words of Jean Valjean from Les Miserables,
What have I done?
Sweet Jesus, what have I done?
Become a thief in the night,
Become a dog on the run
And have I fallen so far,
And is the hour so late
That nothing remains but the cry of my hate,
The cries in the dark that nobody hears,
Here where I stand at the turning of the years?
If there's another way to go
I missed it [several] long years ago...
How could I have drifted that far away? How could I have been that dumb? Well, I think the answer is "A little bit at a time." I can't point to where it started, but I know where I'm at now, and it's not where I want to be.
God gave me a great gift when He gave me 2 years of fellowship at UNC. (See, that post did really have a point) It was a chance to see what a life (my life) could be like when surrounded with His love. Instead of seeking and praising the Creator, though, I desired more of the creation instead. It should have been something that I sought for myself, rather than freeloaded from others.
The revelation that I've had my priorities misplaced has definitely shaken me a little. This is what I referred to at the beginning of the RMGA odyssey when I said that I didn't fully recognize the consequences. However, I'll share some of the more immediate consequences in the next post.
Thanks for reading so far!
Time warp back to this weekend at RMGA. On Saturday evening, Marta (one of the regional staff workers) spoke, as I wrote about in my last post. Embedded was a quote from George Müller that was headed to "rock my world", so to speak.
George Müller was an amazing man who lived in Bristol during the nineteenth century. He led an amazing life of faith and dependence on God. When I was much younger, we listened to an audio biography of Mr. Müller's life several times, and I was impressed by his dedication and faith. You can read more about his life's work at this page
George Müller said "Either we are full of God and our interactions with others are the overflow of that interaction, or we are not full of God and we're trying to fill that need through others." Suddenly, as if illuminated by lightning, I saw it. As with Martha and Mary, being with the people of God is not like being with God, and one cannot substitute one for the other. I was trying to be with God by being with the people who were with Him. (if that makes any sense). Rather than being disciplined enough to seek God through prayer and His word, I was trying to find Him through His creation.
As I considered more, other pieces fell into place. Of course I was super- (sometimes overly-) careful about who my friends were. If I needed my friends to be "higher on the ladder" than I was, that would substantially reduce the set of people who I would like to be my friends. If I was looking for God in my friends, of course I would abuse the privilege of Godly fellowship either in person or by email. (this has happened several times in the last decade or so.)
I felt like the words of Jean Valjean from Les Miserables,
What have I done?
Sweet Jesus, what have I done?
Become a thief in the night,
Become a dog on the run
And have I fallen so far,
And is the hour so late
That nothing remains but the cry of my hate,
The cries in the dark that nobody hears,
Here where I stand at the turning of the years?
If there's another way to go
I missed it [several] long years ago...
How could I have drifted that far away? How could I have been that dumb? Well, I think the answer is "A little bit at a time." I can't point to where it started, but I know where I'm at now, and it's not where I want to be.
God gave me a great gift when He gave me 2 years of fellowship at UNC. (See, that post did really have a point) It was a chance to see what a life (my life) could be like when surrounded with His love. Instead of seeking and praising the Creator, though, I desired more of the creation instead. It should have been something that I sought for myself, rather than freeloaded from others.
The revelation that I've had my priorities misplaced has definitely shaken me a little. This is what I referred to at the beginning of the RMGA odyssey when I said that I didn't fully recognize the consequences. However, I'll share some of the more immediate consequences in the next post.
Thanks for reading so far!
posted by The student of life at 9:05 PM
1 Comments:
That's huge. You're welcome!
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