Safe in the Center of God's Will...

It's been said (by someone) that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. What is your definition of "safe"? I believe our spirit is safe in the center of God's will. Nobody and no thing can snatch us out of His hand. But our earthly body/self? The church of today seems to preach that God will deliver us from all suffering and discomfort if we pray, discern His will and stay in the middle of it. Why do we seem to see so many different outcomes for so many seemingly well-meaning Christians? Maybe it's our one-size-fits-all notion that if we pray or do "this", God will do "that". We think we've tamed God with a formula.

I've just finished a book called The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. He speaks about something that I've been wondering about most of my Christian life. Why is the church of today so centered around the idea of God delivering us from every unpleasantness and making our lives easy and full of cool gadgets? What happened to the church of Hebrews 11:35-40? Jesus told us to count the cost before following Him. This implies there IS a cost. Our society may not be into throwing Christians to the lions or sawing them in half, but do we wince at even the idea that someone may reject us if we mention Jesus in a context that threatens their status quo?

Well, just some food for thought. I'm a long way from being a Barbarian for Jesus, but I sure think it's a worthy goal. This is a life-changing book, in my estimation. And all for a grand total of $4 from Amazon!

 

Shalom.