No Motivation? The King is Calling!

I don't post here often enough because, quite often, when I sit down to write the inspiration just doesn't strike.  I usually try to force some words out and put together the semblance of a blog post, but it all sounds unnatural and wrong, so I backspace and stare at a blank screen for a while before giving up. 

Sometimes this upsets me and throws me into moments of doubt.  When I started this blog I could feel God inspiring me all the time, sometimes several times a week, or even more than once a day, but it just doesn't come that way anymore.  Do I not pray enough?  Am I reading the wrong Bible verses?  Am I not listening for God throughout the day?  I panic.  Why doesn't this come easily anymore?

I'm beginning to find that motivation and inspiration for many things in my life may not always come easily, but I have to push through it and make it work anyway.  I have to write English term papers whether or not any of the works from class inspired a literary argument in my mind.  I have to find a way to push myself through a workout whether or not I have much motivation that day.  And I should sit down and think about how God is working in my life and the world around me and take time to formulate it into words even when it doesn't come easily.

This blog has been such a gift throughout my formative years, in that it caused me to think deeply about God's presence in my life and how He was working on me, and I am so blessed that He used it to not only help me, but to reach others.  Now is my time to be faithful to Him and continue listening and using this gift that He's given me despite His voice only seeming to be a whisper.

What gifts has God given you to further His Kingdom?  Are you using them to the fullest to serve Him and those around you?  God calls each of us to serve Him in different ways, and we must answer His call to us even when we lose the motivation and inspiration.  He is constantly calling you to something, even if it isn't what you want to do or be.  He's never going to let you waste your life.  If it feels like He isn't calling you to anything listener longer and harder.  I know that He's going to use you for something great, even if you have little motivation, desire, or even ability to do it.  He will provide.  He will call.  His Kingdom will be grown.

For me, to live is Christ

This song has been hugely active in my faith this past year.  The first time I heard it was a week after moving into college last year for my freshman year.  I was homesick and longing for someone to talk to who I had known longer than a week, and found myself sitting on a step behind the Chapel.  I could hear the song being performed inside, but I had no clue why, as there were no events being held in the Chapel at that time.  Now, looking back, I know it was one of the worship teams preparing for their weekly Thursday night worship, but at the time all I knew was that it was sent from God.

I've found that the words in "Let it Be Jesus" by Christy Nockels is a prayer that works as praise for joyous times and as a cry out to God in hard times, because no matter what it rings true.  So often I want to take credit for my blessings and successes and I want to control my struggles, but I have to give it all to God.  He is the Light and the Guide.

If you're going through a high in life, I encourage you to listen to this song and praise God for your blessings.  Take a moment to remember that it's all about Jesus and His victory on the cross, and use the blessings that He's bestowed upon you to glorify Him.

If you're going through a valley of life, listen to this song and cry out to God.  Ask Him to glorify Christ through your sufferings and to use them to His purposes, even if it's really hard to understand now.  Try to focus on God's sovereignty, and know that He loves you more than you could ever hope to comprehend.  Keep your eyes turned towards Him and He'll bring you inner peace and use this situation to His purposes.

Even if you're not going through a valley or a high, and you're in a middle ground of life, listen to the song and pray for God to make your thoughts and actions Christ-centered.  I've found that the middle-periods of my life are the times where it is easiest to get complacent in my walk with God, because I feel as though I don't need His comfort, and the blessings He's given me seem less obvious.

Let it be Jesus.