Following the Divine Pattern (Pt. 2)

     Last week I wrote about the importance of work and routine in our relationship with God (you can read the piece here).  Soon after I posted the article, a friend posed an interesting question to me.  What happens when we get interrupted? What happens when our normal routines get thrown out the window?
   
     This is a fallen world, after all.  The divine pattern of work and routine should still be striven for, but we have to realize that we will not be able to perfectly achieve it in this life.  Our work will never wholly satisfy us.  Our plans, however carefully laid, will eventually go awry.

     Fortunately, there is good news.  In becoming incarnate and dying on the cross for humanity's sins, Christ opened up the Kingdom of God to us.  This means that we don't need to trust in our own strength in order to cultivate our life with God.  There is grace for us.  Even when everything we planned goes wrong, we can trust God to meet us where we are.

     I've always hated having my plans thwarted.  I want to stay in my comfort zone.  I want to be able to order my life on my own. (i.e. I want to be able to trust in my own kingdom).  However, as I have slowly learned to put the grace Christ provided into practice (i.e. trusting in the Kingdom of God), I have realized this truth: God is only present in the present. When my plans fail, I have a choice: either to grow upset and continue to pursue the way I want things to be, or to meet God in the here and now, trusting that he has my best interests in mind.  When I choose to pursue my plans (my kingdom), I inevitably experience separation from God.  On the other hand, when I choose to pursue God,  I soon encounter the truth that doing something unpleasant with God is infinitely preferable to acheiving my own goals without God

     "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33 KJV)

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