Lately, God's really been challenging me to think through why I think he is worth everything it takes to follow Him. The simple answer, He is worth more than anything else.
The only thing wrong with the simple answer is that sometimes it isn't that simple. Telling someone who doesn't know God that they are to give up their family, friends, car, food, money, pets and anything else they own is not as simple as letting them know that God is worth more than that. So how do you go about explaining why God is worth it to you? Well, here is my response.
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When I was 15, my world got turned upside down. It was the middle of my sophomore year of high school and I was so comfortable with who I was and where I was that I was finally beginning to enjoy myself. And there's the catch, I was beginning to enjoy myself. I wasn't, however, beginning to enjoy God at all.
October 4, 2009. My family and I moved from Colorado Springs, Colorado all the way to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Why was this so tragic for my 15-year-old self? Well, let me tell you. I was just figuring out who I was, or so I thought. I was figuring out who my friends were and who was going to stick around, or so I thought. I was getting used to having a long distance relationship with my family, or so I thought. And simply, everything changed, and I knew nothing.
This created chaos in my walk with God. It took me from being a "Christian" to questioning everything, right down to God's existence.
Now, with hindsight being 20/20, I have discovered there was a purpose for all of the confusion and let down, but in the meantime, I was everything but joyful. Questioning God's existence took me on a journey I never anticipated. But I guess everything concerning God does take you on an adventure you never anticipate.
I was forced to go to a youth group where I was able to learn from someone who has had such a wonderful impact on my life, and he probably doesn't even know it. I was able to see others who were trying to figure out what their faith meant to them also. I even was able to begin exploring what God meant to me as a different person.
This led me to a place I called home for four years. I figured out that with God's existence being true, I needed to go to college somewhere that He was leading me to. Trine University. Never in a million years would I have put myself there, let me tell you. Quickly, I figured out why God wanted me there. It was to grow me more than ever before. Putting me through trials and temptations I would have never expected and teaching me to put all of my trust in Him, never questioning His plan.
Throughout this long journey, my life plans changed numerous times and then suddenly, my life plans no longer mattered. Through this long drawn out process, now, all I want to do is whatever God has for me. Don't get me wrong, I still imagine myself doing certain things such as being a wife, mother, or counselor, but only God's plans actually matter. I have given up my everything to do God's anything.
Back to the why... (yes, that story was important). While shoveling through life, there are many different struggles that come about. These struggles are meant to lead us back to God whenever we seem to have gotten ahead of ourselves and think we can do it all on our own. This happened to me many times, but especially when I lived in Colorado. These are the times when we learn the most and when we embrace the many amazing adjectives that God is. Through these struggles, God proves Himself to us, even though He doesn't need to. Even though your story may be different from mine, there are many ways He proves Himself to you also, even if you don't recognize it yet.
God has shown me that without Him, I am practically nothing. Yes, I can make it through life, most people can. But, God makes life beautiful and gives it purpose. God shows us that through everything, He is making us the person that He wants us to be. He is changing us to be able to grow the kingdom and create our lovely family in heaven.
Let me just list a few of the reasons God has revealed to me that He is worth following!
1. The Greatest Sacrifice:
God has given everything He could have given us just so that we could be saved and He would have given more if He had any more to give. (paraphrase of something Lincoln Brewster said once.) This is so awe-striking. It makes me contemplate what I could ever give God in return. My life. That's the most I can give and that's not even enough.
2. He is Forever Faithful:
As stated before, God proves Himself to us even though He doesn't have to. He allows us to see Him working by the outcomes of every tiny detail of our lives. God answers our prayers, always. God to this day gives us a sign of a promise He made to Noah years and years ago. God allows us to look back and notice all of the circumstances He allowed us to trudge through and see the light on the other side. Now, that is faith. God is so faithful.
3. God Gives Us Joy:
Through every circumstance, God gives us this awesome thing called joy. We are able to rest in His presence and be in complete awe of what He is doing in everyone's life. We are able to talk about and share the work He is doing throughout our lives and the lives of the ones we love. This is one of the most exciting aspects of life we are able to experience.
4. He Challenges Us Daily:
God reminds us throughout different passages in the Bible that we are to pick up our cross daily. This is a challenge to improve our relationship with Him and those around us every single day. This challenge could be simple to accomplish some days and others not so much, but ultimately, it's a challenge we need embrace. Learning is a constant work in progress and our relationships with Jesus can always get better. How exciting is that?
5. God Gives Us the Right People:
There may be many friendships and family members that have come and gone, but the ones you currently need are right by your side. God allows them to be there. God sends people our way because He knows they will be able to tell us the right thing at the right time, even if it's not what we want to hear. God sends us people we need to be reaching out to and people that need Him because He knows that we are the right ones for the job, even if we don't. This is probably the one that gets me every time.
Although there are many other reasons why I believe that giving up my whole life is worth being a true follower of Christ, the last reason I gave keeps me on my toes all the time. The fact that God has sent the exact person I needed to speak with to me at the exact time I needed them, is something that proves His greatness to me. God has allowed me to be friends with amazing people that have all pointed me right back to Him, showing me that He needed to be first in my life. Showing me what it's like to truly live FOR HIM and teaching me to follow in His footsteps. That is no coincidence, and I'm sorry if you believe it is. So I tell you all of those to note, my life hasn't been a walk in the park, much like everyone else's. I have not always trusted God with my every ounce of being and even today I can always give more of me. But, through my story, God has been faithful, given me joy, showed me the beauty of His sacrifice and put the right people in my life at the perfect time.
These things all make God worth it!
God is worth my every second of every day, my mother, my sisters, my nephew, my family, my friends, my dog, my car, my money, my comfort, my convenience, my safety, my heart, my trials, my temptations, my surrender, my sacrifice, my time, my whole self and soooooo much more. I could literally give a million reasons why He's worth it all, but please, begin to discover for yourself.
"Then he said to them all, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Luke 9:23-24
