I have made life so much more complicated than it should be. The problems arise when I try to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. The Bible says that we live in the world but should not be of the world. It can be a hard line to draw sometimes. With everything that our culture throws at us today, it's no wonder we get confused about what is reality and what is only an illusion. I've been basing many aspects of my life on an illusion for the last few years....or probably my whole life. Now this isn't to say that I've been 'enlightened' and now understand everything as it truly is. Scripture says that now we only see in part, but one day we will see things fully, as they truly are. Until now (well I'm still working on it), I've been consumed by what people think of me. I'm a people pleaser...my biggest fears are failure and rejection...so I kept chasing after things that either a)give a certain impression that others would approve of or b)serve as an escape from that pressure to please.
God has been teaching me so much over the last few months. I'm realizing that for the most part, the people I am so concerned about impressing either a)won't even be a part of my life long-term or b)don't really care that much about what I do anyway or c)don't judge me as harshly as I thought. Aside from those things, WHY SHOULD I EVEN CARE? If God is for me, who can be against me? God is the only one I can truly count on FOREVER...so His opinion is really the only one that counts...and I love that. He is the only one that truly has my best interest at heart and the only one that knows absolutely what I need when I need it. When I start letting other people's opinions and expectations guide my decision making, that's when I get in over my head and things get chaotic.
It's a daily challenge...the Lord reminds me every day that I need to look no further than His word to find what I need to guide me through life. How stupid is it to look to the world to determine what I should do? The world is a complete mess....obviously wisdom is not found there...only in God. And that is reality.
