Just a few weeks ago I watched my youngest sister graduate from high school; I was immensely proud of her and felt a sense of nostalgia from the whole experience. I remember high school like it yesterday (yes, I know it wasn’t that long ago but 10 years feels like a long time to me). In many ways, my classmates felt like extended family because I had been there for 13 years and essentially grown up with them. As my senior year approached I began to feel very sad at the prospect of ending that era of my life. I began my senior year with a serious attitude problem and a general disregard for anything celebratory about graduating or moving on. About halfway through the year things started to get really bad as friends began to turn on each other and the classroom bickering was at an all time high (keep in mind that most of us had attended school together since we were very, very young). I was consumed with how unhappy I was and how I couldn’t wait to get away and go off to college and be on my own. By the time second semester came around, I was so sick of the childishness that I just wanted out and wanted to get as far away from my classmates as possible. If they were going to ACU or Harding, I wanted to be on the opposite side of the country and ultimately ended up applying and being accepted into Pepperdine. By the time graduation came around I was beyond ready to be done with high school.
This past year I watched my sister go through the exact same situation with her classmates, and was reminded of the stress and tension major change can have on our lives. I talked with my mom about my sister and the stress she seemed to be under and my mom reminded me that it was God’s way of making change bearable; he was taking the comfortable and making it uncomfortable so that a change that seemed impossible only a few months before now seemed desirable. I love the quote by the once famous actress, Ruby Dee, “God, Make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.” I am reminded of Jonah and his resistance to God’s will and wonder how has God made something uncomfortable to move you out of a comfortable situation?
This past year I watched my sister go through the exact same situation with her classmates, and was reminded of the stress and tension major change can have on our lives. I talked with my mom about my sister and the stress she seemed to be under and my mom reminded me that it was God’s way of making change bearable; he was taking the comfortable and making it uncomfortable so that a change that seemed impossible only a few months before now seemed desirable. I love the quote by the once famous actress, Ruby Dee, “God, Make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.” I am reminded of Jonah and his resistance to God’s will and wonder how has God made something uncomfortable to move you out of a comfortable situation?
"In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
"When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD."
Jonah 2:1,3,7,9
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
"When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD."
Jonah 2:1,3,7,9
Your thoughts?
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