Let God Speak

I just had a disturbing conversation with someone who loves me very much but hasn’t quite grasped how to show it yet.

I remember when I used to be where she is. I was a brand new Christian and all I wanted was to share my love for Christ with everyone. Since I’m a bit aggressive I would consistently recite scriptures and introduce my beliefs any chance I got. I thought I was ministering to them. I thought I was introducing them to the light but my method was all wrong.

My friend told me that God told her that I need to go to church.

Ok. I hear you.

But this isn’t the first time she has said that. So I told her that the best way to get me (or anybody) to go to church is to tell them you’ll pick them up and take them with you. Casually invite them, don’t press. I don’t mind going I just have visited and visited and I haven’t found my place yet. But by constantly telling me I NEED to go it makes me not want to because I don’t want to do it to please you.

What made this conversation so annoying is that she was SCREAMING at me that God told her to tell me and she said that even if I never speak to her again she was going to be obedient and, “YOU NEED TO GET YO BEHIND IN CHURCH!”

She even hung up on me. LOL!

I can’t even be mad at her because I know her heart is to share the joy of the Lord and to see me walk in complete happiness. But trust God with me. I’m His daughter too. He loves me just as much as He loves you. He will guide me. He will lead me where I need to be. Pray for me if you feel so strongly.

I remember going to my friend Vicky’s house to hang out the night before she moved away to Atlanta. She had invited other friends too and one of our old classmates from UF showed up. So we are all hanging in the kitchen eating and talking and every other second he brings up Jesus. Watching that interaction was so surreal to me. I could FEEL my eyes being opened to how my so called ministering had been received in the past. Whenever he would speak it would cause all of us to pause and a slimy tense cloud would fill the atmosphere. It wasn’t the right time for that.

Before he left he invited Vicky to pray and I could tell she was so uncomfortable as he held her hands and prayed for her.

I know you want others to share in your joy but do it in LOVE. New Christians go through this period where they feel like they see the light and everyone else should too. Remember that your life changing moment came in it’s own time and no one rushed or condemned you.

I see it all the time and it’s so sad to me. A person who just started living for the Lord will run out and tell you all about how you are wrong and how you aren’t going to be blessed unless you shape up. They will even go so far as to criticize other Christians and the way they serve Christ when just a few months ago they weren’t living what they are preaching. A quoted scripture means nothing to a person who doesn’t believe in its power. You’re wasting your breath when you could be a living example of God’s acceptance and love.

Darling…I know God commissioned you to go out and spread the gospel but I do not ever remember Jesus criticizing someone for not doing things the way He did them. He didn’t even require the recipients of his miracles to believe in Him. He blessed them according to His love for them. He never tried to guilt trip anyone into serving Him.

There’s nothing I can do to stop this necessary journey to spiritual maturity because I went through it and I’m sure every new convert will feel the same excitement about a new relationship with God. It’s a good thing. Just, don’t be upset when people start to back away a bit. It’s a bit unnerving to watch someone flip like that and then get upset because they expect you to do the same.

Now I’m in a place where I’m cool with my relationship with God. I seek Him daily. I pray non stop and I ask for His guidance in all matters. What I try to do each and every day is to SHOW love to others whenever I can. It hurts me when someone misinterprets my intentions and takes it for bad but I can’t do much about that. I won’t stop showing love just because someone else doesn’t know how to accept it.

You live. You learn. You grow.

But in the end, your relationship with God is the most important thing. You have to be true to yourself and not be afraid to worship in your own special way. Worship with your LIFE! Don’t let your outpouring of religious practices and servitude be your only act of worship.

I worship God by being honest about who I am and where I am in Christ. I’m not the perfect Christian and I don’t know anyone is. As much as others would like for me to go to church and be in my Word to meet THEIR standards they have to approach me the right way.

If you feel like I’m not in my Word enough, don’t condemn me. Ask to come over to study with me. Invite me out to meet your friends who love Christ. Show me what the fun in Christ really is.

Don’t let it be about words and making sure you clock enough hours in church. Let your light shine by itself. Express the excitement that God has brought into your life and share your blessings. Pretty soon others will want a piece of that too and will come running to you for guidance. Then…THEN you can be a mouthpiece for God because their eyes have been opened and they have a willing ear to hear.

Live a life of love and acceptance. Celebrate the efforts of your friends as they serve God, don’t condemn them. For people who aren’t familiar with Christ you are their only representation and no one wants to grow closer to someone who is constantly telling them they fall short.

Live your life. Live it in love. Speak it in love.

Let God speak through you.