God | Romance | Trying Too Hard
I’m so thankful for the friends and family that God has surrounded me with. I cannot imagine this journey without their support, friendship and love. Whether this is the way God works in everyone’s life I don’t know but I know for me I’m learning that He leads me in a very natural, organic way.
“My failure to ‘pay attention to God’ and what was going on inside me caused me to miss many gifts.” -Peter Scazzero
As I’m realizing, when He gave me a new heart it was for real and He is truly leading me. I’ve had a tendency in the past to try too hard. It largely came from my desire for the “right” thing and to not miss God’s good will and plans. Sometimes we try too hard in social settings, in relationships, in hearing God, the list goes on. I don’t mean that I think we sit back and just “que sera sera” but learning to truly be still, be still inside and know that He is God, and to trust that those nudgings, those coincidences, those inclinations just might be the movings of God in our lives. When someone tries to hard in a relationship it feels forced and no real connection happens between both parties, maybe it’s because all the focus is on the efforts and actions and not actually on the other person. I think it’s the same with God. He is not just a power or a force or an idea, but He is real and He created the natural world, why would we think He would work any less beautifully and organically in our lives? Sometimes things seem to come out of the blue, but really God was working, weaving this pattern behind the scenes all along, and if we look closely, we begin to see a glimpse into His mysterious ways.
God works so beautifully and organically. His beautiful displays are apparent when you look at a baby and even moreso when you really look into their eyes, the power and beauty of the ocean, the majestic and quiet of the mountains, the sunsets, these are just off the cuff examples of how beautifully God does things. He pays very great attention to detail and isn’t confined to our finite understandings, but if we get too caught up with “the way things ought to be,” then we can really miss out on the journey and romance that life was intended to have.
I once heard the parallel that God is like a husband, who wants to take his wife way on an surprise week long adventure, we are all the bride in this example. The husband has made all these plans and been dreaming up how to surprise his wife in ways that he knows she will love. He has the simple and large events accounted for, he wants to take her on a romantic journey together. So the morning they are to leave, he says, “Babe, I packed your bags with everything you will need, your calender is cleared, I am taking you away for a week.” But say the wife incessantly inquires “where are we going?” as he is pulling her out of the house, and as they are pulling out of the neighborhood, “Where are we going? I really need to know where we’re going? Honey, where are we going? What if I don’t have everything I need. I really need to just know where’s the first stop…” What kind of romance is that? Where is the trust and the adventure? Of course the husband wants to romance her with these surprises and of course he’s painstakingly gone over everything she could possibly need and packed it, watched her daily routine meticulously so as not to miss anything. But what if she instead of questioning everything just went with him, got in the car, did what married people do 😉 and just embraced each moment, trusting him and his love for her? It’s the same way with God, he wants to take us on this journey and this adventure but sometimes we don’t just jump on board with Him and trust His leadings and stillness and goodness and our control and questions and speculations can really keep us from the beauty that is God’s creation in our lives.
Of course things take work and effort and energy, I’m in no way discounting that. I’m simply suggesting that maybe sometimes we try to hard and missed the simplicity and the beauty of living in God and His dreams for our lives (Acts 17:26-28).
be free | trust + enjoy God
hoping we enjoy the journey that we are each on and rest on His love and guiding | xoxo | katee grace
