I still struggle with not doing the will of God as I understand it in any given moment, but I am never not satiated when I do. And even when I don't obey, the repentance brings peace. The Father tells us to pray unceasingly. Constant dialogue with Him brings me deep peace, joy, fulfillment, hope, purpose, and grief. The dynamic dialogue is not hindered by any activity and is rooted in understanding He deeply loves me and desires the best for me and through me. Grief is of God. It can push us to deeper levels of understanding, knowable things only known through the grief. Even if I am only hearing or feeling what I have imagined to be a dynamic relationship with a relational God, it sure satiates more than anything I tried before Him. I think of the song by U2 where he sings, "I still haven't found what I am looking for." God made it so we would understand that, even with the deep peace, joy, hope, and fulfillment we find in Him, there is always more....a TREE[∞] if you want to compare it to #'s...that awaits us when we are set free from the limits we have on our minds and bodies due to original sin.
I thought about this post for a while. I feel like as long as I'm needed by people it's worth whatever misery I have to endure on the daily. If I can reasonably meet the needs of people I care about, my need for distraction decreases.
Of course. But quite often the people you care about are perfectly content to go about their own struggles without needing anything beyond the usual from you, in which case you are returned to yourself.
I guess I would choose an amount of drugs/alcohol that would still leave me the health to work out and play recreational sports. That would be my choice of personal distraction. Sadly.
I still struggle with not doing the will of God as I understand it in any given moment, but I am never not satiated when I do. And even when I don't obey, the repentance brings peace. The Father tells us to pray unceasingly. Constant dialogue with Him brings me deep peace, joy, fulfillment, hope, purpose, and grief. The dynamic dialogue is not hindered by any activity and is rooted in understanding He deeply loves me and desires the best for me and through me. Grief is of God. It can push us to deeper levels of understanding, knowable things only known through the grief. Even if I am only hearing or feeling what I have imagined to be a dynamic relationship with a relational God, it sure satiates more than anything I tried before Him. I think of the song by U2 where he sings, "I still haven't found what I am looking for." God made it so we would understand that, even with the deep peace, joy, hope, and fulfillment we find in Him, there is always more....a TREE[∞] if you want to compare it to #'s...that awaits us when we are set free from the limits we have on our minds and bodies due to original sin.
That's very eloquent, Chip.
I thought about this post for a while. I feel like as long as I'm needed by people it's worth whatever misery I have to endure on the daily. If I can reasonably meet the needs of people I care about, my need for distraction decreases.
Of course. But quite often the people you care about are perfectly content to go about their own struggles without needing anything beyond the usual from you, in which case you are returned to yourself.
I guess I would choose an amount of drugs/alcohol that would still leave me the health to work out and play recreational sports. That would be my choice of personal distraction. Sadly.