Each morning, I get up and pretty much have the same, steady routine throughout my day. I do the same things in the same order, and must admit that I probably don’t really think about the commonality of my day much at all. The only time I become alarmed, is when something is off-kilter.
During my time of getting ready each morning, I have prayer and venting sessions with God. I must admit, at times my family must think me to be out of my mind as they come into my room and here me talking up a storm; but in reality, I need to flow through things out loud to get them straight in my mind. It is during these sessions of flushing my feelings and thoughts out that God often reveals what should have been so obvious for me to see, but was lost somewhere in my life most common.
This morning, as I was running through my soliloquy of trivialness, God placed the vision of a car driving down the street. I heard Him ask me, when do you worry about the car; at what point do you care for it? And it immediately hit me, that just as in my morning routine, I really don’t pay attention to my vehicle until some warning light, weird noise, or something out of the ordinary occurs. In my confession, God revealed that was where my frustration lies… I had found myself in the pursuit of the motions…
It is a common theme for all of our lives. Just last night as I watched The Biggest Loser, I watched contestants look back on their starting point of a remarkable journey and wonder, how did they ever get in that condition and not realize it? Whether it is our weight, our finances, our health, our sanity, or anything in our lives that is out of whack, can’t we all ponder that same question…
How did I get here?
It’s not as if we don’t have the warning lights, weird noises or out of the ordinary circumstances occurring. Our clothes don’t fit, a check bounced, our blood pressure is high, sleeplessness, moodiness, stress, anger, frustration… and the list goes on. All of these simple warning signs, attempting to keep us from the looming disaster; the heart attack, the bankruptcy, the divorce, and so many other trials we face are with us and apparent to others, but for some reason not to ourselves.
Perhaps, it is our tendency to see the fault in others, but not ourselves.
“It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.” (Matthew 7:3-4. MSG)
This verse states “Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted…” I would like to ask, do we have the nerve to look in the mirror at ourselves, and be honest with what we see. Do we have the nerve to sit in God’s presence and allow Him to reveal to us those things that so bother us when it comes to others? Do we have the nerve to face the truth and stop going through the motions of our lives, succumbing to complacency?
There is a song by Matthew West called The Motions. It wasn’t until I saw the video today that I realized the song was about a very personal time in his life. A while back Matthew West had to undergo surgery for his throat. In the healing process of that surgery, he was unable to speak for a predestined period of time. For a singer, a person who reaches out to others with the gift God has placed in his voice, I could not begin to imagine the feelings that ran through him. And then I ask myself, would I have the nerve to face the challenge God is asking me to face and trust in Him fully for the outcome He has predestined for me?
Perhaps the song says it best:
This might hurt, it’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care if I break,
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life
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?”
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
I don’t want to go through the motions of life, just living from warning signal to warning signal, only making changes when I have no other feasible options left. Instead, I want to seek after God and have the nerve to face myself each and everyday, choosing to be better and try harder for His glory than I had the day before.
Here’s to us going outside the motions of our lives….
More From Dawn
Only $12
Let's Get Healthy Together!
Bringing Back Your Childhood Favorites
Menu Planning Saves TIme & Money
Meet & Greet