Blueprintless

What does it mean to be loyal and committed to God? It means to trust Him wholeheartedly. But, do any of us really trust God wholeheartedly?

As I was reading through Mother Teresa's No Greater Love and reflecting on what it means to be loyal, I was struck by this passage: "If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers." SO TRUE. When I think about the times when I have been discouraged, it always involves me. However, when I have my eyes set on the Lord, when I wake up every morning and see the scars on the palms of my hands, when I pick up my cross and drag it with me to class, I am NEVER discouraged. So, why do I become discouraged, or begin to focus on myself again? Because I lose trust in the Lord, I become disloyal.

To be loyal to God is to pray and to listen. Another quotation by Mother Teresa that reminded me of the importance of prayer stated that "In vocal prayer we speak to God; in mental prayer He speaks to us. It is then that God pours Himself into us." If God is pouring Himself into us through loyalty and obedience, why wouldn't we want to be loyal??? In our emptiness and in our nothingness, that is when God is able to work. In our weakness He is strong. Amanda Pottsy's said this last summer, "If God is strong in our weakness, why would we ever try to be strong?" We have to admit that we are weak and are nothing without God! God gave us everything and everything belongs to God, yet we try to own our 'strength.' However, why not embrace our weakness and let God work through that broken, empty weakness?

When I think about the great Christian models, Jesus, Mother Teresa, C.S. Lewis, etc. I do not notice 'strength', I notice obedience, love, care, adherence, patience, the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. But, there is a distinction between weakness and unwillingness. Instead of saying, 'OK, I'm gonna be weak and not do anything, because then God will fill me up.' No, in recognizing our weakness, we continually strive and yearn to be more like Christ. Just because we give up and recognize our weakness does not mean we are already weak. We have to attain this weakness. And when I say weakness, I mean a weakness that steers clear of power, might, or any personal emotion/physical/mental mindset or ability that attempts to say 'I AM IN CONTROL' or 'I AM STRONG.' Rather, in every instance, we need to be saying and thinking, 'GOD IS IN CONTROL, 'GOD IS STRONG.' That is loyalty. Giving the power to God. If we were building a house, but have never used a drill, seen a blueprint, or laid cement, we would not tell the Foreman to step down and allow us to organize the building of the house. NO, because we have NO IDEA how to do it. We don't know what the House is supposed to look like because we cannot read the blueprint. We don't know where to drill the nails because we have never used a drill. And we don't know how to mix the concrete, because we don't know the Ingredients needed to mix it properly. So, we would never tell the Foreman to stop being the Foreman. And even when we think we start to understand the process of building the House, and where to put the nails, and how to lay the cement, then we think we can start doing it on our own. But, we need others to help us. We still need the guidance of the Foreman, because if we are not the Foreman then we don't know what the blueprint looks like and we still don't technically know where the nails, cement, wood, etc. go! We rely on the Foreman and are loyal to Him because He sees the Bigger Picture!