Is it about me?

Hey it's been awhile since my last post. If anyone is still out there and reading...here are some thoughts that have been forming over the past month or so.

Rick Warren's best seller "Purpose Driven Life," opens with a intense thought provoking statement. "It's not about you." As a byproduct of the "me" generation that single sentence stuck out to me more than almost anything else in the book. I believe the intention of the author was to provide a thoughtful backdrop for us to consider our existence on this earth - and I agree, that the plans and purposes for our lives is to glorify God. Without a doubt, if we don't understand that we're here for his pleasure, not the other way around (primarily) then our self centered, self serving lives will miss much of the real pleasure God intended for us on our humanly journey.

I want to give a cautionary statement though. If we embrace too passionately the "it's not about me" sentiment, then we may miss some important moments when, in fact, it is ALL about me.

Here's a little example - I'm in the middle of an extremely frustrating situation with one of my 'loved ones.' I feel like there is very little I can do about this situation. I spend a great deal of time in prayer about the situation and for the most part have believed that this situation is primarily about their walk and relatioship with God. I've been willing to 'endure' the difficulties of this situation because, 'it's not about me.'

But wait a minute, I begin to feel the 'rub.' At first it's just a little pressure, then it's like 110 grit sandpaper really making me uncomfortable. I keep chanting 'it's not about me, it's not about me,' all the while it appears more and more that my thoughts are consumed by my own pain and frustration. It doesn't matter how many times I 'give it to God,' I keep getting it back.

Suddenly I have a moment of epiphany where I realize that my being in this situation is no accident. The orchestration of events, including the problems that actually belong to the other person, are really about doing a work inside of me. You see, it's through this situation in my life that God is teaching me a very specific lesson in Christlikeness. One that for many months (maybe years) I had been resisting. But until it came this close to home and pinned me down in a corner, I was able to believe that 'it's not about me.'

The word of God is alive and sharper than a double edged sword and it's good for reproof and correction - etc. What we need to remember is that the Holy Spirit's job is to apply this word to our lives. Each day there are countless moments where the word could be applied and in those moments, it is ALL about me or you. The really cool thing about God is that when He's in the middle of making it all about us - it's for the greater purpose of making us all about Him. Praise God that we can be rescued from our self-serving mindset and placed on a higher level of existance! Each time I learn this lesson (yes, I've had to learn it over and over), I'm amazed by the grandeaur of life! Like a little grain of sand gets to have a relationship with the expanse of the ocean. How amazing is that?