Getting out of hand.
So I realize not everyone can relate to this blog post. Some because they just can't, some because they have other lifestyles, and some because I'm just so weird of a kid that very few people actually relate to my struggles. But anyway, here's my dilemma.
I looked into a mirror at work the other day, but for once I actually LOOKED into it. I didn't glace at myself in passing like I normally do when I'm in a hurry or when I'm having a bad hair day. No, I was tired, and quite frankly wanted a break-- even if it was a brief one-- so I got a little closer to the glass and looked at my face.
My pores were really big, as expected after a long, sweaty shift. My hair was frizzy for similar reasons.
But what really startled me, and what really "inspired" me, I guess, were my eyebrows. Please don't quit reading now even though this blog seems to have no meaning-- I promise there is a purpose to my random ranting about my face.
When I examined myself, I noticed that my eyebrows hadn't been plucked in awhile, and were starting to look a little unkept. Okay. A lot unkept. But whatever. The point is, they weren't all neat and tidy like they are when I first shape them... there were random sporadic hairs just sticking up all over the place. Under my eyebrows, above them, some way off to the side... they were a mess.
And the weirdest part was, (as if this blog weren't weird enough already,) when I stepped back and looked at myself from afar, they looked fine. I couldn't even notice the crazy out of place hairs that were clearly seen up close.
Needless to say, I got to thinking. I came to a deeper conclusion, and became aware of a theme that has been penetrating my thoughts lately. It has to do with things getting out of hand.
Let's get to the root of the problem, shall we? I think it'd be best to think about what my eyebrows looked like after I had every hair in it's rightful place. What they looked like when I was holding a magnifying mirror to my face, plucking all the misguided, troublesome hairs away. After that process, my eyebrows usually look pretty good. Not perfect, but decent.
And if you skip ahead awhile, you'd find that the eyebrows looked absolutely horrid! How did this happen? Did they just spring up overnight, like pesky weeds in a garden? Or, regretfully, were they getting out of hand all along, and I was just too busy and too preoccupied to notice their tendencies?
I'm sure it's the second option, because now that I think about it, I hadn't really looked at myself in the mirror until that day. I was, like I said, used to just glancing at myself when I washed my hands, or when I was checking my hair in the mirror before class. I never really LOOKED at myself until that day.
This, my friends, is the true root of the problem... of any problem, really. We disregard things in our life and let the things we overlook tyrannically rule our lives without even knowing it. Unfortunately, when we realize something bad happened, it has been days, weeks, years in the making, and all the while the trouble was brewing right under out noses the entire time.
So what keeps us from staying in line? If you've spent three minutes with me, you probably know I like to talk about my faith and whatnot, so I'm definitely using this little eyebrow fiasco as an analogy. I'm not really that concerned about my eyebrows. They're just a collection of dead skin-cells that penetrate through my pores and appear above my eyes. No big deal.
What I do genuinely care about, though, is my faith, and the faith of those I care about. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but don't we ALL get incredibly dumbfounded when we truly examine our walks with Christ? I know that sometimes I forget about Him altogether, and when I look at my life and how I'm living it, I am shocked at how far I have fallen. How far I've strayed from Him. It's sickening.
I know there is nothing I can do to separate myself from the love and grace I've received through Christ. It's a Bible verse. It's a true statement. It's the Word of God, His holy promise to His people.
But if this is true, and God is so AMAZING, why the HECK am I always putting my faith at the bottom of my list? I know that when I get ready in the morning, I have a certain list of things I must accomplish, which are completed in the order of their priority. First, put on clothes. Wash your face. Do your hair. Put on deodorant.
I get so caught up in making sure everything else is fine and dandy that I completely forget about my poor little eyebrows. And once you think about it-- they're still always with me, and they don't run away when I forget about them... they just get a little "dirty," like dust collecting on a trophy, or rust forming on an antique car.
My faith is not something I should let get out of hand. It's not something I can do once a week and expect it to all work out. This is where my eyebrow analogy fails a little, because you can pluck them once a week and they'd be fine. If I just made plucking my eyebrows a routine every Monday or something, I'm sure they'd be just great.
But my relationship with my Creator is not something I can squeeze into Sunday mornings from 10-12:30. I can't force myself to go, sing some songs, eat some donuts, and leave. Faith isn't an obligation. It's not a routine or task I complete on schedule.
It's a lifestyle.
If I want to perfect my walk with Him, I don't have to be perfect-- or act like I am-- I have to try. I have to genuinely put forth an effort and work at it so I don't throw it to the bottom of the pile. I must prioritize. See what's important. Try not to stress about about the small stuff. I need to weave Him into every aspect of my life instead of trying to mend my faith once time has passed and I realize how broken I really am.
I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to take a moment and really LOOK at yourself. You can use a mirror if you want, or you can just take some time to think. How are you living? Who are you living for? Do you live with a purpose, or just to complete your little to-do lists?
I am caught in this act daily. I forget about His worth in my life and my worth to Him because I let other things distract me and push God away. I try to make up for it by squeezing a little Bible verse here and there. I listen to a Christian song to really "connect" with God.
He's already here!
He's not this Spirit you have to summon from the mountaintops. He's alive and living inside of all who believe in Him. He doesn't want to be second in your life, and He doesn't want to be falsely recognized as first. He wants devotion, and a true, Holy lifestyle given solely to Him.
Don't try to squeeze in time for the One who gives you life. Don't put Him at the bottom of your priorities. Take some time to examine, accept His grace, and repent so that you're facing Him.
Now all you have to do is walk.
So I realize not everyone can relate to this blog post. Some because they just can't, some because they have other lifestyles, and some because I'm just so weird of a kid that very few people actually relate to my struggles. But anyway, here's my dilemma.
I looked into a mirror at work the other day, but for once I actually LOOKED into it. I didn't glace at myself in passing like I normally do when I'm in a hurry or when I'm having a bad hair day. No, I was tired, and quite frankly wanted a break-- even if it was a brief one-- so I got a little closer to the glass and looked at my face.
My pores were really big, as expected after a long, sweaty shift. My hair was frizzy for similar reasons.
But what really startled me, and what really "inspired" me, I guess, were my eyebrows. Please don't quit reading now even though this blog seems to have no meaning-- I promise there is a purpose to my random ranting about my face.
When I examined myself, I noticed that my eyebrows hadn't been plucked in awhile, and were starting to look a little unkept. Okay. A lot unkept. But whatever. The point is, they weren't all neat and tidy like they are when I first shape them... there were random sporadic hairs just sticking up all over the place. Under my eyebrows, above them, some way off to the side... they were a mess.
And the weirdest part was, (as if this blog weren't weird enough already,) when I stepped back and looked at myself from afar, they looked fine. I couldn't even notice the crazy out of place hairs that were clearly seen up close.
Needless to say, I got to thinking. I came to a deeper conclusion, and became aware of a theme that has been penetrating my thoughts lately. It has to do with things getting out of hand.
Let's get to the root of the problem, shall we? I think it'd be best to think about what my eyebrows looked like after I had every hair in it's rightful place. What they looked like when I was holding a magnifying mirror to my face, plucking all the misguided, troublesome hairs away. After that process, my eyebrows usually look pretty good. Not perfect, but decent.
And if you skip ahead awhile, you'd find that the eyebrows looked absolutely horrid! How did this happen? Did they just spring up overnight, like pesky weeds in a garden? Or, regretfully, were they getting out of hand all along, and I was just too busy and too preoccupied to notice their tendencies?
I'm sure it's the second option, because now that I think about it, I hadn't really looked at myself in the mirror until that day. I was, like I said, used to just glancing at myself when I washed my hands, or when I was checking my hair in the mirror before class. I never really LOOKED at myself until that day.
This, my friends, is the true root of the problem... of any problem, really. We disregard things in our life and let the things we overlook tyrannically rule our lives without even knowing it. Unfortunately, when we realize something bad happened, it has been days, weeks, years in the making, and all the while the trouble was brewing right under out noses the entire time.
So what keeps us from staying in line? If you've spent three minutes with me, you probably know I like to talk about my faith and whatnot, so I'm definitely using this little eyebrow fiasco as an analogy. I'm not really that concerned about my eyebrows. They're just a collection of dead skin-cells that penetrate through my pores and appear above my eyes. No big deal.
What I do genuinely care about, though, is my faith, and the faith of those I care about. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but don't we ALL get incredibly dumbfounded when we truly examine our walks with Christ? I know that sometimes I forget about Him altogether, and when I look at my life and how I'm living it, I am shocked at how far I have fallen. How far I've strayed from Him. It's sickening.
I know there is nothing I can do to separate myself from the love and grace I've received through Christ. It's a Bible verse. It's a true statement. It's the Word of God, His holy promise to His people.
But if this is true, and God is so AMAZING, why the HECK am I always putting my faith at the bottom of my list? I know that when I get ready in the morning, I have a certain list of things I must accomplish, which are completed in the order of their priority. First, put on clothes. Wash your face. Do your hair. Put on deodorant.
I get so caught up in making sure everything else is fine and dandy that I completely forget about my poor little eyebrows. And once you think about it-- they're still always with me, and they don't run away when I forget about them... they just get a little "dirty," like dust collecting on a trophy, or rust forming on an antique car.
My faith is not something I should let get out of hand. It's not something I can do once a week and expect it to all work out. This is where my eyebrow analogy fails a little, because you can pluck them once a week and they'd be fine. If I just made plucking my eyebrows a routine every Monday or something, I'm sure they'd be just great.
But my relationship with my Creator is not something I can squeeze into Sunday mornings from 10-12:30. I can't force myself to go, sing some songs, eat some donuts, and leave. Faith isn't an obligation. It's not a routine or task I complete on schedule.
It's a lifestyle.
If I want to perfect my walk with Him, I don't have to be perfect-- or act like I am-- I have to try. I have to genuinely put forth an effort and work at it so I don't throw it to the bottom of the pile. I must prioritize. See what's important. Try not to stress about about the small stuff. I need to weave Him into every aspect of my life instead of trying to mend my faith once time has passed and I realize how broken I really am.
I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to take a moment and really LOOK at yourself. You can use a mirror if you want, or you can just take some time to think. How are you living? Who are you living for? Do you live with a purpose, or just to complete your little to-do lists?
I am caught in this act daily. I forget about His worth in my life and my worth to Him because I let other things distract me and push God away. I try to make up for it by squeezing a little Bible verse here and there. I listen to a Christian song to really "connect" with God.
He's already here!
He's not this Spirit you have to summon from the mountaintops. He's alive and living inside of all who believe in Him. He doesn't want to be second in your life, and He doesn't want to be falsely recognized as first. He wants devotion, and a true, Holy lifestyle given solely to Him.
Don't try to squeeze in time for the One who gives you life. Don't put Him at the bottom of your priorities. Take some time to examine, accept His grace, and repent so that you're facing Him.
Now all you have to do is walk.
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