Neutral

Tonight at youth group, we had a guest speaker in town! Woot woot shout out to Stephen!

You know how when a person shares often one phrase will stick out and stay stuck on you? Yes that happened. Stephen had a word for our group; he said he got this picture of a car that was in neutral and just revving up and revving up, but because it wasn't in gear, it couldn't go anywhere. He went on to share how spiritually we can do the same and be putting all of this empty energy into God when what we need to do first is "get in gear."

And it hit my heart. Whammo. But, strangely, I didn't know why it affected me in my chest so much, because I didn't completely understand it. What does it mean to be "in gear" with God. And what defines energy as "empty" or "wasted" (i.e. revving up)? No energy or effort spent on God is wasted right? But . . . this energy can be ineffective.

So, I probed my mind a little more as the night continued, and a word landed on my brain totally unlocking the idea for me -- obedience. OBEDIENCE is the gear (to continue the metaphor). Often, I will have a period of closeness with the Lord, but then, through a series of little steps, I find myself, two weeks later, in a fog and not knowing how I got there. I then proceed to talk to God, and He tells me, "What was the last thing I asked you to obey me about?" That drifting, the subtle, sneaky drift, happens when I ignore God's often subtle (but clear) voice.

If I'm not in obedience to God, I can pour all the energy I want out, raise my hands during worship, cry on my knees in prayer, but it might not be moving things forward at all.

The thing about obedience is, it can often smack of legalism. When I hear a voice in my head saying to sacrifice some movie veggin' time for God time, I most often dismiss it as the "pharisee" within. God is a God of grace; He wants me to enjoy myself. This is so true. But but but --- there are times when God definitely asks for the sacrifice of your time. Because it is a thing as "small" as time, I don't consider it disobedience. I'm not a pothead or sex addict . . . and so I justify my disobedience.

But ignoring God's voice is ignoring God's voice, not matter what the situation. Period.

And the scary thing. The subtly, sneaky scary thing is -- these little disobediences are one of the biggest reasons why we drift out of gear. Why we pour out energy. Rev our engines. And stay in the same spot. Parked in the garage.

Okay, thanks, Stephen for this grand metaphor, which I've proceeded to juice for all its worth.

Love an stuff,
Chris