Our Expectations...

When I came across this, although it doesn't sound too ground-breakingly philosophical, it hit me a lot. I usually have two visions of my life. The romantic dream version of it all and the utterly sacrificial one. Sometimes in my head although I have certain dreams and desires I usually over ride them with things I think I should be doing. Its so easy to think that as Christians our most effective way to live is in a mud hut in Africa. We sometimes view ourselves too much as the servant or slave of God and forget that we are also His child. Its important that we remember both our child and servant identity but we must obtain a balance. And believe me this is something I am in training for. Sometimes I feel that in order to best serve the kingdom I need to sell all my possessions, move to a third world country, be in a good mood all the time, never get angry or sad (simply not christian) and live the single life and travel round like Paul himself. These are all great things, but when we do this we are coming up with a picture of what WE think GOD WANTS. 

This is something I have been battling with all semester and have asked a lot of friends about; 

Do we actually have a choice in it all or are we just ticking the boxes of the checklist that is our lives? 

Does the Spirit have something to say about everything, and if He doesn't speak on something should we take it as a no and just not act?

Is our only true command to follow the Great Commission and as long as we are doing that then we are all good?

I believe we have a freewill, and that God has given us longings and desires which He gave us for a reason. He didn't give us a freewill just so He could look over our shoulder the entire time and then be the first to say "wow...I told you so". And I don't believe He would have given us desires and longings just so He could dangle them above our heads. God wants us to live a full and joyful life, He doesn't want us to live in regret or bitterness. But I am not saying that God will give you everything you want, believe me I am so thankful that God has decided to hold a lot of things I thought I wanted from me. The difficult truth for us to swallow is that; God's plan for us is far better than the one we have for ourselves. God wants us to be free in Him, not bound by a life long To-Do list. HE gave you the crazy dreams you have, and as long as those dreams are set to glorify Him, then He was the one who granted you them. Its all about Him, I was asked the question recently; "If it was just you and Jesus on a desert Island would you be happy?", I want to grow in my faith to the point where I can say with full confidence "Yes" without even hesitating because if we are truly honest with ourselves thats a difficult question to answer. God wants to bless you, not just save it all. Allow Him to.