Today I’ve asked my sweet friend Lisa to share on my blog. Because she has good things to say. Good things that resonate with my heart and soul and challenge me and beat me up in the best way. My life is usually crazy and always imperfect and I can choose to either embrace it with a bitter heart and want it all to be easy or I can want God. Lisa talks about this in her new book I Want God and gives us a little glimpse of how deep this message goes in today’s blog post. I hope you love it!
***
I will never forget the day in college when my friend asks me to describe God, the way I see Him.
It catches me off-guard, this question I have never been asked before.
Sitting on the cold, community laundry room floor, I answer, in a clumsy, pedestrian way that is small, but honest.
“I think He has nice eyes,” I say, my own filling with tears.
I’m much older now and my college days seem far away, but I still picture this same Jesus. I’ve learned and grown and studied since then and yet, it is what about Him, I see.
I know He is big. I know He is all powerful and holy and can take me out in one breath. And yet, He is everyday to me. He is lover. He is best friend. He is humble and perfect and laughs at my quirks and wipes my tears with fingers I can’t see.
And as His Church gets bigger and glossier and the craziness of making celebrities out of people who preach is the constant pull, I often retreat into my thoughts of who God is and what He is all about before I, myself, go mad.
And it always makes me want Him. Just Him. It is where I find rest.
[Tweet ““The only way I know to get better is to focus on God harder.” ~Lisa Whittle, I Want God”]It’s not just the world and the Church that drives me crazy. It’s me, too. It’s my own stubbornness and need to be valued and the mental war of wanting God to make sense but knowing He likely won’t. It’s the constant rub of wanting to be comfortable and yet, the desire to throw my contented life out the window so I can do the brave, big thing.
And right before I get too disillusioned, ready to throw in the towel I remember these things:
- It is the wanting of God more than anything else, His power within us that makes us brave.
- It is wanting God most that helps us love, keeps us together and keeps us humble.
- It is the wanting of God that will drive us to stay the course, keep it real, accept ourselves, dive in, even when it’s hard and unclear.
The world will always be crazy. The Church will sometimes get it wrong. We will war with our flesh that tells us to be noticed and famous and our spirit that reminds us to become less – passionate to live our dreams one day, scared to death to move at all, the next.
But we can choose God. We can pursue God. We can long for God and lock eyes with Him.
And it will keep us sane. And steady. And ready for the day we can ditch all this imperfect mess and not want anything else anymore.
**
Lisa Whittle is an author and speaker, a lover of God, family, and the Church. Her high anticipated 4th book, I Want God: Forever Changed by the Revival of Your Soul, will release October 1. Lisa’s honest, bottom line approach is her trademark, as she points people to a passionate pursuit of God. In addition to speaking, media appearances and writing for Women of Faith, Catalyst, Relevant and various other publications, Lisa has done master’s work in Marriage and Family and is a part of the MOB [Mothers of Boys] Society writing team. Lisa is a wife and mother of three, plus one fluffy dog, residing in North Carolina. You can find her on Facebook, follow her on Instagram, Twitter [@LisaRWhittle] or Pinterest, and visit her ministry community at www.lisawhittle.com.