It could be different
In a different world, in a different time… it could be different.
But have you ever met somebody who was completely different than just about everybody around you? …like, even different from most of the so-called, self-declared Christians you know? I do.
I have a friend who practically has her heart and mind set on things above instead of things on earth, almost every waking minute I can tell. While most people her age are enamoured with all the pleasures of this world–money, shopping, clothes, toys, fame, popularity, vanity–she hardly cares a single bit about shopping and the attainment of material things. The false sense of “satisfaction” that accumulating more and more stuff does not entice her at all; she finds no interest in buying or keeping up-to-date with the latest fashions, shoes, or handbags. My friend has all that she needs and wants in God Himself; I have never seen her drink from earthly wells that ultimately run dry. She’s a person who finds no happiness in seeking after worldly pleasures, and she knows that loving pleasure itself will make her poor rather than rich.
Instead, this friend of mine delights herself in God–the Provider of all things, the Giver of life Himself. She finds both her duty and delight in seeing and savouring God, and counts everything of this world as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus her LORD and Saviour. In fact, her love for her Savior and the compassion she has for God’s people is the driving force behind all that she does–a selfless ambition that moves her to the hardest places in the world…just so she could be used by the Holy Spirit to save some. The life that she lives on this earth is one that is alive to God and dead to the sins of this world; nothing of this world fills or satisifies her like the Word of God does. She would rather spend an eternity in the house of the Lord with the Father instead walking through a shopping mall; she desires the fellowship of Jesus more than earthly relationship can give. Indeed, because of her Kingdom mindset, she considers even her own achievements and accomplishments as rubbish… just so she can gain Christ all the more.
I write this post just to tell you of how much I admire true humility in Christians, and how thankful I am to have such a good friend in my life who is not conceited or puffed up with pride. I myself am learning so much week in and week out from her example of humility, finding that I myself still have too much pride and am still too stubborn. She is what some may call a “Christian hedonist”, a child of God who simply seeks to pursue her maximum pleasure in God. And over the past year, she has helped me tremendously in moving forward in my pursuit of holiness and righteousness–a holiness and righteousness that isn’t founded upon what I can do or can accomplish, but upon Christ Jesus and what He has already accomplished and what He can do through me by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
And so, that is my calling, and that is what lies aheadof me that I am pursuing with all of me: to know God, to love God, and to glorify God… that is my goal and that is my prize. But furthermore, to tell others about the life-cleansing redemption that can only be found in Christ Jesus… wow, this is both a gift and a privilege!
I do not know where I am going in this life. All I know is that it looks like God is taking me to places beyond my own comfort zone. I am only following where He is going, fully depending on the Holy Spirit for guidance in the path ahead of me, and eagerly expecting Him to put in places & situations where I can see Him move and where He can find me humbly responding to His activities. I wish could stay home and enjoy the intimacy of friends and family, especially her… except so far, it doesn’t seem like it is in the will of God at this moment in time.
I wish things could be different, and that we could better, more intimate of friends who can tell each other our deepest, most heartfelt thoughts and feelings. It amazes me that I can talk to my friend about every nitty gritty thing that bother my heart and mind, things that would bore most people to death…but her, she listens, she understands, and even cares. However, we are indeed at different life stages right now, and at this age and in this moment in time, the stars are just not crossed in our favour for this to happen. Maybe, in a different world and in a different time, it could be different.
I just cannot figure out for the life of me why God won’t move mountains right now for us to happen.
