GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

"I don't wanna go through the motions. I don't wanna go one more day, without Your all consuming passion inside of me. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, 'what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions'." -The Motions by Matthew West

I don't really know how I got there, but I did. There was a time I was super active in the church and for the Lord (notice I consider them, possibly, two separate things).

So what happened? Did I stop going to church? No. Did I stop reading my Bible? No. Did I stop loving the Lord? Definitely not. Then what happened? I have recently been thinking about that myself, asking this very question. How did I not notice what was happening?

It's like the story of "The Frog In The Kettle", have you heard that one? It goes something like this:
If you put a frog in a kettle of water he just swims around, loving his private little pond. Then, put it on a stove with a very low flame and the water begins to warm slowly. At this point the frog feels the water warming and thinks, "this feels rather nice". Feeling like he doesn't have to move around so much to warm his blood, he relaxes a bit more. A few paddles to get around is all that is needed. As time goes by, the water begins to get very warm but to the frog it's comfortable and he thinks to himself, "boy, this sure feels good, it's like having my own jacuzzi", and he completely lets his guard down and just decides to float around the kettle. (We all know where this is going, right?) As will always happen with a kettle of water left on a flame long enough, the water went from warm, to hot, to boil and before he knew it the frogs 'goose was cooked' so-to-speak or 'we're having frog legs for dinner!'

At any point the frog could have hopped out of the kettle, but he chose to stay in there because it felt comfortable. He didn't see the danger in it, but before he realized, it was too late.

Now what in the world does that have to do with you and me?

I think for me, something similar to that happened. Years ago, after being in ministry for a number of years, I felt that I was "too busy" or "doing too much". I had all these expectations, expectations that never came to fruition. I became frustrated, disappointed and upset and I stepped down from ministry. I decided to take a back seat in my church activities and ministry for the Lord. I still went to church, but that was all. Now I had more time for myself (which isn't a bad thing, once in a while). I didn't mean for it to be a long term situation, but I got comfortable, and it felt good to relax and not worry about anybody but myself and my family.

What was to be a temporary break turned into a three year hiatus. I began coaching my sons wrestling teams, and took up jogging, ran a few 5 k's, 10 k's and a half marathon. During this time, even with all these activities I felt unfulfilled. "There's got to be more to life than this", I thought. I finally decided to get back into ministry because I knew that's what I was supposed to be doing. Don't get me wrong, I never stopped sharing my faith. My personal walk with the Lord has been very rewarding for me, and I never hesitate to tell others about it when given the chance. I realize that I have been very blessed in my life, just looking back at where God has brought me from, I will never stop praising Him.

I have been teaching the Bible again, now for over ten years. Men's groups, married couples groups and youth groups, wherever God gives me the opportunity. This is my calling and what I enjoy doing, but I recently realized that there was still something missing. The Lord helped me discover what it was, the "all consuming passion" spoken about in the lyrics of Matthew West's song 'The Motions'. I was doing all the right things, good things... proclaiming the gospel, teaching His Word, ministering to the lost and hurting, conducting weddings and funerals, but often times I was just going through the motions. This is not to say I wasn't sincere in my ministry, I believe I was, but I lacked the power and conviction that only the Holy Spirit can give.

In my Jan. 4th blog, I described how God began to stir my spirit early last year. I had been feeling like something needed to change, and that something was me. What He wanted was the complete surrender and commitment of my life over to His will. I was doing all this stuff but didn't have the peace that comes with being in God's perfect will. I was spinning my wheels but going nowhere spiritually. This is what happens when you're operating under your own power instead of God's power. There was no passion!

Do you feel like you're just spinning your wheels through each day and not really going anywhere? Are you just going through the motions in your Christian walk? God desires for you to seek Him daily with all your heart or passionately. He wants to give you guidance and direction for every aspect of your life. He says to seek Him and you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart. That's one of His many promises. As His children, we have the privilege of the Holy Spirit's power in our lives, full access. What was missing in my life was the all consuming passion for God. It isn't in the doing! It is in the loving! Loving the Lord with all your heart is exactly that, He is to be our central focus, but we allow so many other things to creep in and steal it. Distractions can even be the ministry or serving at church; if it's done without love it's only service or doing, the passion is missing.

Don't wait until you find yourself in the position I was in. Ask the Lord to fill you with his Spirit and His passion for your calling. Why are you here? What were you created for? Ask Him for the answer to these questions and then do it unto the Lord.

"No regrets, not this time. I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind, Let Your love make me whole. I think I'm finally feeling something 'Cause just okay is not enough. Help me fight through the nothingness of this life." -The Motions by Matthew West

God Bless and Press On
Larry