the little lost ball

i wrote this piece years ago, but was thinking about it again the other day when i was talking to a friend of mine who seems to be so worn out right now. like they were true to a ministry they felt they were called to, but then was left to figure the details out for themselves. like.. where's God to get me through?

and so.. here is my piece on 'the little lost ball'.

ever feel like a little ball left in the tall weeds? like God went out to play and left you there when He got called in for dinner? then He came out to get you later and couldn't remember where He'd left you and couldn't see you for all the weeds?

kind of sounds like a gary larson comic, doesn't it? but don't you ever feel like that?

many people are assured of their salvation - the formula's easy: you're a sinner, you ask to be forgiven, you're saved.

but ask your friends if they know what God's will for their life is. how many people will tell you that they know they are doing what God wants them to do? are you on the right track?

sometimes we can feel so lost even when God is so close. we just forget He's right beside us waiting for us to cling to Him and follow Him. we wander in circles looking for His outstretched hand without noticing it's on our shoulders all along.

why is that? is it because there's no formula for spiritual maturation? where in the Bible does it say X amount of prayer times Y amount of scripture will produce Z growth?

but the bible does tell us how we can test ourselves for spiritual maturity. look at james. the whole book is an assessment for us to recognize growth (or lack of) in our lives; are you joyful through trials? do you refrain from partiality? does your faith produce good works? this book isn't a recipe for maturation in the sense that we're provided quantities of each ingredient, mix well and serve. but we are given a road map to show us signs along the way that we're going in the right direction.

joy in the midst of trials doesn't make you grow - it's a sign that you are growing!

and that's what God asks of us.

who has known the mind of our Lord? there are many things in our very own lives we will never understand or even know. but God has placed them there to offer us opportunities to mature into a likeness of Him. we don't have to understand why things are the way they are to respond to them. and as our responses slowly begin to mirror those illustrated in james, we will know we are becoming the person God waits for us to be.

sometimes we are that little ball in the tall weeds. who's to say why. but God has not left us nor forgotten us. He's got a built in GPS and He knows right where we are. in fact, He may be using those weeds we think are hindering us from rolling out into the open, to protect us from our enemies.

trust God and walk on. er,... roll on.. !