In the Bible, there is a period of time where God allows 400 years of silence between Himself and his people. With that in mind, maybe you can cut me some slack on my 4 months of silence.
No? Well, it was worth a try!
I can’t say that this year has been incredibly busy and that’s the reason for my lack of posts. But in January I decided to really focus on what’s important. And well, as fun as blogging is to me, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that important. Getting to bed at a decent hour so I can have time with God before beginning my day? Important. Preparing healthy, home cooked meals for my family? Important. Finding time to exercise? Important (although, to be honest, this has fallen by the wayside already).
The Lord laid a verse upon my heart around New Year’s and I thought it would be a wonderful goal if I were to live it out in 2012. Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
A friend of mine who teaches English grammar was explaining this verse to me one day (not knowing it was my life verse for this year… Cool how God worked that out). She said that the difference in the “do not conform” and the “be transformed” part of this verse is huge. It all has to do with the word “BE”. The “be” shows active participation. If you conform to the pattern of this world, you basically just sit back and go with the flow. You might attend church and read the Bible. You may even pray. But it’s lackadaisical at best. You live in the world and do your best to get along with everyone. And unbeknownst to you, over time, you are conformed to the world.
On the flip side, “be”-ing transformed by the renewing of your mind shows action on your part. It’s something you must do in order to know God’s good, pleasing and perfect will. It’s not easy. It takes effort. And lots of times, it goes against what you feel like you want to do. But that’s where obedience and perseverance come into play.
So in January, as I reflected on last year, I had to ask myself, “when was the last time I felt uncomfortable in the world?” I could think of a few times, but in reality, these are the things that have bothered by spirit for quite some time. The absence of transformation in my life pointed directly to my lack of growth. So the past 4 months have been all about “be”-ing:
~being in the Word every morning
~being mindful to pray not only for myself, but others who are in need in my community and around the world
~being a support to my kids and husband, not my virtual facebook friends
~being a homemaker, whether its nutritious meals, an organized house, or creative touches that make a house a home
~being a follower of Christ
So as I focus on living out Romans 12:2, my prayer is that my family will flourish, my relationship with the Lord with deepen and maybe, JUST maybe, my mind will declutter enough so that the writing of these posts will happen quickly and easily, and therefore, no more lengthy silences!
