God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, but when they broke that fellowship by sinning against Him and disobeying His rules, God only made a few appearances to righteous men. He came to Abraham many times, walked in front of the former slaves guiding them, spoke with the prophets giving them signs and warnings, and sent his angels at other times throughout the Old Testament. The Israelites, his people, needed Him to bring them words and statements of comfort, but at times they missed God's warnings or refused to heed. Yet all those centuries between Adam and Mary (14 generations times 3), God was waiting to fulfill his promise to Eve at the proper time. When that time came, Jesus would walk among us. We celebrate that occurrence around Christmas time.
Now think about the Olympic Athlete. Each one works toward a specific goal, a certain race, that all comes down to the one chance on the biggest stage. These men and women focus on the minute details and the big picture and work tirelessly to become "the best". While it may come naturally to some and they may not have to work as vigorously, everyone still has to work to get closer and closer to the goals of success and a gold medal. These individuals want to win, they want to achieve, they want to be the best they can be, to beat the others that believe that they are the best. Their dreams carry them, their motivation is always different, but each athlete has the same focus.
The want to work, because they know that the end result will probably be amazing and potentially record breaking. Our desire to be with God should surpass the desires these athletes have. He gave up everything to be Immanuel (Philippians 2) just so that He would be closer to us. No longer do we have to go to a priest to speak with God, BUT we still must choose to spend time with Him. We must choose wisely how we spend our moments, how we live, and how God becomes the force that moves our lives. We gotta wanna allow Him to have that complete control.
Just like the athlete, who wants that medal so badly he will do whatever it takes (within reason or not) to achieve, it takes time and effort to learn to let go of our problems, issues, and circumstances and let God have complete control. While it can happen overnight, it is not always the case. God works on us, but we gotta wanna let Him God sent his son to be with us, so that the Holy Spirit could come and dwell among us. We are his children, and he takes us back when we fall, but we gotta wanna let Him do his bidding. We gotta wanna follow his leading and be willing to do what he asks of us, IF we want his promised blessings. And not just in the good times either, in the hard times it may be harder, but we gotta wanna trust God even more. We must fully rely on his loving-kindness and patience as He molds us. Yet before this transformation can take place, we gotta wanna let him do it.
Sure we will struggle at times, there will be problems, but we can have peace, as God is "with us." Jesus promised many things to his disciples. One that I cling to most often is in John 16:33 where Jesus says this: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” God is greater than our struggles and fears. Our hearts gotta wanna allow Him to care for our struggles, we must turn our hearts toward our Heavenly Home and be heaven-minded, because the fourth quarter is coming. While this is not a post about the last days, it is important to note that we draw nigh the time of Jesus' return. When that happens God will no longer walk on this earth "with us", as he has for the past 2,000 years, but rather we will either be taken to walk with Him in Heaven or be separated forever from Him. Yet, for now we gotta wanna bring our minds to focus on God, our hearts to desire His will, and our bodies to follow the direction the Holy Spirit leads.
God has had this plan for the last 6,000 years, we cannot thwart what He has set in motion. We just need to learn to follow Him, and we cannot do it, if we are not willing. We must choose to loyally follow his guidance and be led to his throne, until he comes for us. Faithfully serving God will bring benefits beyond our understanding, but we gotta wanna. It is just that complexly simple...or as Nike says "Just Do It". Ya just gotta wanna.
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