The Question We Should Ask

My morning reading from Romans recently brought to light a reminder of how our past doesn't determine our future. So many of us get caught up in our past and allow it to hinder us, or plague us with fear or bitterness. "How would God wish me to deal with this?" is the question we should ask.

It can also work the other way around. Meaning, just because the family line goes back to Abraham and followers of God (a Paul writes to the Romans), it doesn't mean you are automatically all set with God. It is a choice of your own, not a descended lineage guarantee. Nor are we entitled to it because we go to church or act like a good person. Paul's letter to the Romans throws this out on paper, with challenges to sharpen their faith.

We have the personal choice to determine if we want to be a follower of God. Since we all tend to worship something, as human nature determines, we need to decide what we will worship. If that is not God, it will be something else. If that something else is worldly (created or of this world), we shall always be left empty in the end after short spurts of happiness.

Joy has a taste of primary truth. It does not rely upon anything of-the-moment, but instead, it keeps an eternal perspective. A joy-filled life does not look inwardly or at other people too much. That is where the danger grows of creating an idol. We should be looking at our Creator, who actually chooses things to happen (or not to happen). It is up to God, not us. And we should look at each thing God gives us knowing that it should provoke acknowledgement of Him in all circumstances. We ought to be drawn to Him in all things, not just in matters we feel need attention.

I will let C.S. Lewis summarize:
It means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything, as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying: "How would He wish me to deal with this?"