Don't Believe In, Believe

Eikon was AWESOME tonight!  I don't even know how to describe how pumped I feel right now.  A 22-year-old guy, Ben, spoke on *drumroll please*..................................................purpose.  I know- you wouldn't have guessed, right?  Seems to be the topic of many of our "conversations" lately.

First thing out of his mouth- What are you doing with your life?  When we are asked that question, we would much rather avoid it at all costs, but it's a question that needs to be answered.  He made an excellent point in saying that life isn't made up of yesterdays or made up of tomorrows, but of todays.  We can't go back, and we can't go forward (nor do we know how much longer we even have here), but we do have today- we have each day that we can live for and really make it count.  But, are we doing it?  He said that his goal this year was to milk every moment out of every day, and at the end of each day be able to say "I made the most.  I did amazing things for God today." 

I hate to just regurgitate what he said, but I also hate to just not share...so, here it goes. 

• God's promises aren't for window shoppers.  We can believe in God's promises all we want.  We can take a piece of Scripture in the morning and think, "Well that's a pretty promise!  Look how pretty that is."  It's not going to do us any good.  Yeah, maybe as nice house decorations or good FB statuses, but those pretty promises don't mean a thing.  We can't just believe in them, we have to believe them- own them.  When God says He will provide, we have to trust that promise and not worry.  When God says He will restore us, we have to trust that promise and wait for restoration.  The promise is pointless if we don't own up to it.
• You may have sunk, but at least you walked on water.  This is when he started talking about Matthew 14:22-33, where Peter walks out to Jesus on the water.  I'm sure you know the drill- Peter takes his eyes off of Christ, and he sinks.  But he walked on water.  He walked on water!  We can be living in God's dreams for us, and mess up.  But at least we're living out His dreams.  We can fail a thousand times over, but at least we're getting back up and trying.  It's when we give up on His dreams that we have to be concerned.
• Don't focus on the size of your waves, but on the size of your God.  Dream big.  It's not about us.  If we could do it on our own, we wouldn't need Jesus.  If we could do it on our own, we would be basking in all our glory, instead of giving Christ the glory He deserves.  Instead of looking around and comparing yourself to others, look to Christ.  When that thought comes in your mind that says, "You'll never be good enough to do that," or "Is that even possible?" remember who you serve.  If you look everywhere but to Christ, you'll sink.  But if you really keep Him as your focus, you'll be doing things that will blow you away!

Of course, during the Q&A session, the whole "life calling" question came up, and once again...answer confirmed : )  Ben said if Christ is your focus and He is truly number one in your life, then His plans become your plans, His dreams- yours.  If you're seeking after Him with everything you've got, then do what you love.  Do what you love!  We're only here for a split second, and we're gone.  We've got to grab hold of the opportunities that lie within our reach.  When you get to heaven, what will you say you've done with your time?  What will I say I've done?  God put these desires in our hearts so that we can pursue what we love and glorify Him.  He wants us to love life and to live it to the fullest.  How will you do that today?

P.S. "It's not my ability, but my response to God's ability that counts." -Corrie Ten Boom