Glorifying God in times of happiness
I have been a member of the Church of Christ since I was born. Before I went off to college in Kansas, every Sunday my family and I would attend the 10:15 am service at Riverside Church of Christ in Coppell, Texas.
It was here that my faith formation really started to take shape, as I was baptized at the age of 15 — when I gave my life to Christ and recognized the greatest sacrifice in human history: Jesus’ death on the cross.
Since then, I tell myself every now and then that I’m doing the best I can possibly do to stay as close to God as possible. However, like all of His followers, I’ve fallen short — very short.
When most people imagine “falling short,” they imagine living a sinful, negligent life — one in which has no regard for Jesus or his teachings. While this may be true in some cases, it’s an awfully blanketed assessment to make.
In a period of self-evaluation, it’s become evident that I haven’t fallen short in the form of sheer disregard for Jesus and what He did for us.
Instead, I’ve come up empty in thanking Him for His blessings.
See, when things are going south in my life, I have no qualms about turning to God and asking for help. I’m well aware that I can’t take on life’s challenges on my own (trust me, I’ve tried it). And — to be completely honest — God has come through for me far more times than not.
But it’s when he does come through for me that I fall short. It seems paradoxical, but it’s the truth: I find myself calling His name for help far more than calling His name in thankfulness.
What’s worse is that improving in this area is much harder to put into action than it is to theorize about it, because it so easily goes unnoticed. When things in life are going exactly how we want them to, it’s human nature to make it about yourself — to recognize and accentuate how we feel about what’s happening.
The solution is quite simple, but requires patience. A vast majority of Christians have heard the term “be still.” And while it’s easy to tell one another that we plan on doing this, it’s essential to take time out of our busy, hectic lives and remind ourselves why things are going the way they are: be still, and know that I am God.
In no way have I been sufficient in doing this. In fact, that’s exactly why I’m writing about it.
And in the time of my life I’m living in now — which consists of college, sports, relationships, etc. — it’s as important as ever to be better about appreciating the One who got me here.
Originally published at https://baesch.substack.com.
