An Exchanged Life

I have a little bit of extra time this morning, so I'm doing more than one post!

Trey preached in big church yesterday and taught about living an exchanged life. I know I won't be able to convey all of it, but one of my favorite things he said was that God is complete righteousness and He fulfills every aspect of our relationship. It's not about me or my attempts at being righteous; Christ is the picture of perfect righteous and has already made me complete. Trey said a new life is only possible when we stop working to please God and resolve to trust God. It was really a great message, and God really spoke through him.

Later in the afternoon, I was working in my Stuck Bible study, and I came to a page that just stopped me. I love this author, because she often writes in a way that makes me think, "I'm so glad someone else said that out loud." She's very well-spoken, but also very real. It's part confession, part encouragement, and part therapy for her readers. 

I feel like she wrote my own thoughts better than I could have, so I'm going to include what she said (it's a little long...hang in there).

If I am completely honest...I felt stuck because I thought this life was supposed to make me happy, and I spent most of my time and energy building it. I needed my life to succeed. I needed to matter. I needed my kids to be happy. I needed everything to work out now. Letting go of this life freed me to receive whatever God has for me. We are going to see Him in just a little while, and that matters.

I felt stuck for so long because I did not believe God. I didn't believe in the gravity of my future and what my future cost. I did not believe that these minutes mattered so much, that they held so much purpose. I didn't believe God when He said that in order for me to live, I had to die. I felt stuck because I didn't understand how broken the world is - how broken I am. I didn't understand the bigger story and my part in it.

I felt stuck, most of all, because I was far from captivated by God's love for me. I thought He wanted my performance. I thought to know Him, to find peace and joy in God, I needed some secret formula. But he just wanted a relationship.

I could articulate the right stuff beautifully, but I was not living as if it were true. It did not punch me in the gut every morning. It did not get all of me. I did not move me to the point of change.

 God seemed off in the distance somewhere, watching me build up my fancy, cute little life all around me, like a sand castle He knew would fall.But He patiently watched me build until I woke up and saw the sand. I saw the fragility of my work, he waste of it. Then He swept in with all that He is and all that He has for me. And I am done now with sand castles.

God is saying, Die. Die to all you think you want, and trust Me. The overarching question of this study...Are you willing to die? Because until our pride, our expectations, our plans, our desires, our will, our idols, and our very self dies...we are stuck.

Now, I'm not claiming that I have completely reached the same place that the author has. I'm still in the middle of struggling and "waking up" up to realize that God wants my life to be so much more. But I'm learning and I'm getting there. Trey's message and this Bible study was a huge step in moving me forward.