I, for one, am glad this second week of the fast is over. It was not good for me. I was still able to follow through on keeping my distractions at bay, but I found I was quickly able to fill that time with other distractions, not with God. My commitment was there, but I was no longer being intentional with what I was doing with my time.
I have been hit with how that can carry over into all of our relationships, not just our relationship with God. We can truly be committed to our families, our spouse, our children, our friends…but are we really intentional about growing and tending to those relationships? As a church, Cornerstone speaks often about our genuine relationships and being “real” with one another, but are we being intentional in following through with that?
A couple of weeks ago, I was having a hard day in church, and was receiving support from other people, which was a huge blessing to me. Later that afternoon, I received an e-mail from a different person saying that she was praying for me, and just two days after that I received a card from her as well with some verses and reiterating the fact that I was being lifted up in prayer. She didn’t even know exactly what was going on, but was praying for me just the same. THAT was being intentional!
Often, we probably notice that people are not in church for a few weeks in a row, or that someone is having a specifically hard day, or God impresses a certain person’s name on us as someone to pray for. What do you do when any of these happen? A lot of us are truly committed to our church family, but I think we (myself definitely included) can be much more intentional in how we honor those commitments.
So, as we spend time listening to God this last week of the fast, is He asking you to be more intentional?
I would have to say that I'm struggling with being intentional. I found myself today counting the days until the fast was over and I could just have lunch and play computer games. Wow, what a bad attitude as I finish out my fast. And then as I went into my fast time I found myself checking out the weather and movie theatre sites first. Then I looked at Jen's entry that I read yesterday and I didn't remember the middle section. I realized that I only read the beginning and the ending. Not too intentional I'd say. And while it's wonderful that some are experiencing a joyful fast it makes feel like maybe I'm doing something wrong because I'm not joyful all the time. Don't get me wrong, the fast has been a good experience and I would like to see it continue in some way but to say it has been joyful would be a stretch. I had some really hard days to start with dealing with past issues, then as the fast started to grab onto me I have been experiencing some days of great trial. Most of what I have felt God talking to me about has been more about ministry and outreach with the horses and not as much about Cornerstone. And all of you in the course of the fast have prompted a lot of questions with the biggie today being - Am I being intentional in my fast and my relationship with God? As I ask that question it makes me feel like I want to just play computer games and look for a movie to see.
ReplyDeleteI realize more how important this fast is to me and our church. It's not just asking but requiring me to dig and look deeper into my relationship with God and enabling me to be closer with all of you. From the rest of my fast my plan is to be intentional and to instead count the days to the end of the fast with the hope that it will not end but will go on with a new beginning.
There was a great comment from an anonymous blogger that I thought I published and it seems to be in cyberspace somewhere! I will try to do it justice, as I feel that it spoke exactly to what I was blogging about above...it started out..."Let me in..." and then went on to say that this person has been attending Cornerstone for quite some time and is having trouble breaking through into the family. People have been friendly, but this person leaves church, only saying good-bye to one person. I'm sure this person is not the only one who is crying out for more from the people of Cornerstone...if our anonymous commenter comes back, please try to comment again and we WILL get it published this time! If not, for the rest of us...let's be intentional.
ReplyDeleteI found it! It was posted under Barry's "Questions" entry, but I will post it here again as well...he/she said it much better than I!
ReplyDeleteLet me in… my heart keeps begging for this… I have come to Cornerstone for about a month now… people are friendly and it seems that everyone knows everyone so being new means that I know no-one… is not that anyone is rude or unfriendly… is just that there is no connection beyond the Hi and Welcome… I am learning “tons” during the services but I leave saying goodbye to only one person in the whole church (Thank you Lynn)… So I have a question… how could Cornerstone be intentional at connecting in a deeper level with new people that are seeking not just to get to know God but also to get to Know God thru you?
O.K. I tried posting this response to Jen's entry, but for some reason, couldn't get a security thingy to come up. I did save it though, and do think that it is totally appropriate to still share. As follows:
ReplyDeleteJen, I loved your post!! I agree, the difference between commitment and being intentional is huge!
Your post also ties into what I felt led to pray for yesterday....Cornerstone leadership, all of those who hold any type of leadership role within our body, (myself included). And finally for the body itself.
(From 1 Timothy, and some of my study notes in my Bible.) For the Leadership Team, specifically, I pray that God keep their decision making "Spirit-led"...And with that, that God would open up more time in their crazy busy schedules to spend "intentional" time with Him.
And for all Leaders, again, myself included, that the Holy Spirit impress upon us that we are to set an example to the body. That we are to be examples of gentleness and humility, (Matt 11:29), enthusiasm, perseverance and maturity, (Philippians 3:17). That all leaders may be "eager to serve"... by being examples to the flock, (didn't note that scripture.)
And finally, that the church body as a whole feel that same awareness, that we are to be examples to the world, and eachother.
This can be accomplished in sooo many different ways, but again, I think Jen's post says it all..That we become more "intentional".