neither MORE nor LESS

     But, God, if I only had MORE (money, home square footage, respect from others, time to accomplish my abilities) I would be happy, fulfilled and able to be a better disciple of your steadfast help and strength throughout life’s realities.  

     But, God, if I only had LESS (bills, responsibilities, expectations from others, demands on my time and energy) I would be happy, not overwhelmed, and able to dedicate my life more to the mission of sharing your will and way to family, friends and foreigners.

     In truth, God’s place in both our inner being and outreach should NOT depend on MORE or LESS.   God desires, and deserves, to be first and foremost in where we are, not in what we have or have not.   If we can’t, don’t or won’t find God in where we are, then bottom line is we aren’t looking for, recognizing or seeing the priceless gift of God’s “everywhere” presence.   God does not exclude His presence from His children, be they living in environments deemed too lowly or too lofty by judgmental man.   “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite’.”  Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)

     Simply stated, no matter who we are or where we are, God is with us and calls us to joyful sharing of HIS existence, HIS word and HIS never ending comfort and love.   Thus, neither our jammed schedules nor isolated moments are an excused absence from living close to God.   Busy or bored, each of our lives should consciously reflect God being behind, beside and before us.   God is not meant to be a raincoat we put on and take off depending on our needs but rather the flesh and blood upon which our very lives depend.

     What MORE we long for, or LESS we yearn for, has no bearing on our being called as witnesses who take comfort in God as our strength and refuge.   We, Christians, are summoned to be firmly rooted not in the fruits of life but in the seed of God sustaining our lives.

     More often than naught, we are convinced if we could just get above our present circumstances, then we could, and would, be happy.   However, happiness is most ours when we get beneath our circumstances and lift them up to God.   God’s light, love and inspiration carries and shines forth from all who raise, and place, their imperfect lives into His perfect, guiding and guarding hands.   We can be in a utopia, but if God is not our substance, outer glee might surround us but inner happiness will evade our grasp.

     We need to trust God with where we are for Him to deliver us to a better place – be it on earth or in heaven.   To do this, we need to not be delighted in where we are but to delight in the Lord everywhere we are.   Best tactic about this is it keeps our minds from being submerged in our negative woes and our hearts and souls uplifted by our positive blessings.

     So wherever we are, we are never alone or on our own.  God stands watch over us.   Whether we like where we are, or not, God is with us.   Be we earthly succeeding or failing, God labels us His beloved children.   No matter if the world decries our Christian lives as right or wrong, God declares us His righteous heirs.   Thus, the real question we need to ask ourselves is could we possibly ask for MORE and would we ever desire LESS ???