When You Commit To God

   All my life, growing up in a pretty strict religion, with pretty strict parents, I was taught to commit myself, my life, and my future to God's divine will. But it came along with this caveat that when you commit to God, that's when Satan is going to attack you. In Bible class, in baptism class, in every sermon, the implored us to turn to God, to commit to a life serving Him, and then explained that Satan was gonna get mad and try to tempt you away.
   I never realized how much that bothered me. How much that turned me away from actually TRYING to seek God. It was just a fact. A known fact that you have to fight with the devil in order to have a connection to God.
   But lately, I've been doing the 12 week devotional laid out in The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (and Mark Bryan). They don't call it a devotional, though they do talk about God a lot. There aren't many Bible verses in it or references to Satan. And they leave enough interpretation there for people who don't believe in God to understand and follow the book, calling Him "the universe" and "creative energy" and things like that, never losing sight of the fact that our desire for Divine Intervention comes from an all powerful Being. Anyway. In this book, there is a lot of uplifting advice. Advice about listening to God and listening to yourself. Trusting that if you follow the dreams and talents The Great Creator has given you, He will bless it.
   In Week 2, under the subheading "Skepticism", the author talks about the "coincidences" that happen after you begin to listen to your inner artist. These "coincidences" look a lot like answered prayer. There is this quote, "One of the things most worth noting in a creative recovery is our reluctance to take seriously the possibility that the universe just might be cooperating with our new and expanding plans." (page 50, 51)
  It was like my mind expanded after I read this. That God would REWARD us for following Him... would truly HELP us once we commit to Him... it wasn't exactly a new concept. It just had never made sense to me before. There's this saying I learn in my Human Development class in college, I was trying to find the actual quote, but it seems that it might have been exaggerated by my teacher. The quote she said was, "For every negative comment, you need 40 positive ones, just to get back to a neutral." But according to Google, the actual quote (from the Harvard Business Review) is, "And the optimal ratio is amazingly similar- 5 positive comments for every negative one." in their study of the Ideal Praise-to-Criticism Ratio. Which I think is much easier to do.
    But anyway... the point I want you to take away is that if all you're hearing about and focusing on is how much Satan's going to attack you... that's all you're going to see. If you focus on the negative, that's all you're going to be. When you TEACH only the negative, that's all people are going to come away with.
   One of my goals this year, (and I will probably write out all of them on here in a later post) is to Seek God. It's been a lot easier than I thought it would be, because God has given me so many reasons to think about him. I noticed whenever I've been irritated with my dearest Petal, or feeling overwhelmed by my little Ducky, I have immediately begun to pray. This isn't incredibly uncommon or anything... but every single time, I have NOTICED.
   And the funny thing is, I feel like He's noticing right back. And, much to my surprise, He's been answering me in wonderful and amazing ways.
  I was feeling very lonely and separated from my family, and I prayed that my oldest sister would call me. Not even an hour later, my phone rings and it's her. I have been longing for a snow day, and last week, God gave us not one, but TWO snow days that buffered the weekend, so Petal and I got 4 glorious days snuggling within a warm house while snow fell without. I prayed that Ducky would sleep from 9 at night till 4 in the morning, making it the longest she had slept in one stretch at night. God one-upped me and allowed her to sleep till 6. (Of course I woke up anyway because my body is attuned and had to check on her to make sure she was alright. But still!) I have been worried about how I'm going to get to MOPS, God provided a ride. We were unsure about a job opportunity, and God blessed us. There have been so many amazing things that make my dreams, my life, my commitment to God feel important, valid, answered... Reciprocated. I have been in love with God for so long and never felt like He loved me back. I mean, I know He loves me. But to quote a song by John Mayer, "Love is a Verb." And I'm finally seeing His actions in my life.
   But Satan is here too. Just as I was feeling this great swelling of hope, faith, and love... My poppa got sick. Really sick. The kind of sick that knocks you off your feet and forces you to face your mortality. My poppa has been so big and important in my life. He's been a force of love, an example to look up to, and a huge bubble of joy. Right in the midst of this amazing discovery, this mind-blowing answer to a million little prayers, my favorite grandfather fell sick. Actually, he's been sick for a long time. They just figured out what was wrong.
   And it would be so easy to fall right back into that disappointment. To run away from the Creator because, maybe if I'm a little more neutral, Satan won't bother me and my family. If I stop praying so much, he won't feel like attacking us.
   But I can't seem to do that. Since seeing the power of God moving in my life, I just feel like there's too much at stake to back away from Him now. And once I made that commitment, after I got out of my funk, I saw God's blessings again.
   My poppa wanted knee surgery. And they discovered his heart problems. If he didn't have awful knees, he wouldn't have known he was vulnerable to strokes. He would never have gotten on the medications he needs to get stronger. He would never have made the commitment to change his diet and exercise a little more. How incredible is that? God is still taking care of him... of me... of my little family.
   "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us- whatever we ask- we know that we have asked it of Him." 1 John 5:14, 15 (NIV).
   "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)
   "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people," Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)
   "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
   "Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen." Jeremiah 29:12 (NIV)