focus

-this one is for the christians-

One of the most fundamental things to understand about being a christian is that none of it will make sense to you until you see it at the end. If you call yourself a christian, it means that you have devoted your life to serving God, no matter how crazy or weird or random or scary His will may seem.

Have you ever been used by God? It's pretty fulfilling when you see the outcome isn't it? If you don't know what I'm talking about, good, because neither do I. The truth is, we almost NEVER see the outcome. It's not our outcome to see. It's not our plan.
For instance. Let's say you have a friend at school or work or whatever that needs to hear Truth. You feel God telling you to go say something to them, anything positive at all, and you start to get nervous and self conscious. You suck it up though, & swallow your pride. You go over there, say what you need to say, and they shut you down. They totally shove it aside or laugh in your face. Then you get really discouraged and you wonder why you even did that in the first place. What a waste of time, that was all for nothing.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

ok, first of all, here's a list of things you did that were wrong:
1. you got nervous. This may seem horrible of me to say, but seriously, since when are we trying to please people of this earth?! You shouldn't be worried about what they're going to think of you, ultimately you should be excited that the God of the UNIVERSE CHOSE YOU. He chose YOU over everyone else on the planet to talk to that individual and you're sitting here worried about what they're going to think of you? seriously.
2. you got hurt & now it's going to be awkward around him/her. ok so.... all the sudden this whole thing was your idea? Their future is in your hands now & you screwed it up? no! Be sad they shut down GOD, their savior, the author & perfecter of their faith, not you!

You're on God's team now & that interaction was anything but a waste of time. Theres a plan for that person & you didn't write it and you don't have access to it. So stop trying to give your input. So they shut you down. You can be sad for them for missing that opportunity to change their life around but you did what you were told to do & unless otherwise directed, it's no longer your responsibility. You're not the savior. You just catch the fish.

The sad part is, our sinful nature is always looking for praise. Personally I always want my friends to tell me what a great job I'm doing. It's so bad!
As christians we are DEFINED in God. This means His approval is the only thing that's important, we can find all satisfaction in Him.