I love when God moves and gives you confirmation to move forward. You see, I actually started writing this post the last day of October (even made a “mummy-esque” post on socials since it was Halloween. But months later, and after multiple revisions, it still sat in my drafts. Fastforward to the new year and our church is doing a sermon series called “Life to the Full,” based on the very scripture I use in this post. That sermon series is speaking right to the heart of what I’m trying to communicate here, so I figured now was the right time to share.
Our family mission is to cultivate life in those around us by being love. But that life, it isn’t just any old life, it is abundant life! Filled to the max, overflowing, give-you-that-warm-feeling-all-over, head-to-toe love. You see, we believe what Scripture says…
A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
John 10:10
Jesus came so that may have life in abundance!
Do you ever feel like you’ve done what you could to feel fulfilled, but still feel like you’ve fallen short? Like something is missing? Maybe you go to church on Sunday, serve on occasion, and maybe even attend a small group. But, for some reason, it isn’t life giving. Do you go through the motions every day wishing there was more?
Friend, you are not alone. John Eldridge puts it this way,
“There are millions of people who love Jesus but experience Him only occasionally, more often stumbling along short of the life He promised, like Lazarus wrapped in His graveclothes.”
Restoration Year
It is time to take off your graveclothes! It’s time to step into the abundant life He has waiting for you. Yes, you might need to give up something(s), maybe make a job change, or even a move. But I promise you, whatever is on the other side – it’s more than you could possibly imagine.
I know that sometimes the life you have now seems like everything you’ve ever wanted. But, I’m telling you, if Jesus isn’t in it, if He hasn’t led you to that point, than you’re only living a fraction of what could be.
But what does that look like? What does it mean for Him to be IN something? For Him to truly be leading every step of your life?
Think of it this way – I’ve heard a few times recently that people don’t like to attend the one popular church in our area because “I see the same people there on Sunday morning that I did on Saturday night.” In other words, I don’t want the Sunday morning people to know how I behaved on Saturday night.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s the Holy Spirit trying to tell you something. Maybe, just maybe, whatever you’re doing on Saturday night isn’t exactly what the Lord has for you. I mean, if you remember the night before, I’m sure it was fun and full of laughter. And I know you don’t want to give those Saturday night vibes up.
But what He has is better, I promise you, SO much better. This world can only give us fleeting tastes of happiness and joy. He can offer true joy, joy that lasts, even when things are hard. When you take off those graveclothes, when you step out of what the world has you wrapped up in….a whole new world is waiting.
And, no, it isn’t the stodgy, uptight, not-allowed-to-have-fun Christianity that you may have experienced in the past or have seen portrayed on TV.
It is a truly full life. The kind of life that most people yearn for but can’t quite put a finger on what they are missing. Now, let me clarify here that a full life here on this side of eternity is by no means a perfect life. But it’s a life that remains at peace and with joy when the difficulties come.
I wish I could better put into words what it’s like to fully live with Jesus as your Lord, as your King, following in His every step, moving when He moves, resting when He rests…. But there isn’t anything to compare it to because it is truly unlike anything else. When you fully step into where God wants you to be in every way, things become so much clearer. It’s as if you were living without glasses, half blind but convinced that this is what life was. And then someone gave you the right prescription and a whole new world opened up. Or I imagine it’s like the first time a deaf child hears or when someone who is colorblind tries the new glasses that help them see the world the way it truly is. What was life, what seemed normal and somewhat complete, was merely a shadow of what reality is.
When you finally remove those graveclothes, it’s a whole new sense of freedom. Freedom is found when you are living the life you were made for! Because, you, yes YOU, were made for a purpose! You were made for more.
So how do you get to that point? How do you take your graveclothes off and step into the more you were made for? One step at a time. Too often we take a step, make a decision, and then ask God to bless it. We rush into the next thing because we’re looking for that something more. And we hope and pray God keeps up with it all. But the reality is, we should be following in His shadow, following His leading, walking in His foot steps. For every decision you make – from car shopping to job hunting – seek Him first. When a decision is placed before you, don’t make an immediate decision. Take time in prayer, seek counsel, spend time in His word and seek out what it is He wants for you. Do we have free will? Absolutely. Sometimes choices in our life are there because God loves us enough to give us choices. Other times God has a clear path for you that is not only beneficial for you, but for the others affected as well.
Those decisions can often be terrifying (i.e. opening a coffee shop or moving to a different state) but, again, I promise it will be worth it. Our real-life example looks like this: Justin received a job offer in a different state, not quite two years into the adventure of opening a non-profit coffee shop in our community. His instant reaction was ‘no’ and he was certain I would say no. And when he laid it all out in front of me, my gut reaction was most definitely to say no. But something in me stopped and my immediate reply was, “well, let’s see what God is doing before we make a rash decision.” Honestly, there were reasons on both sides to make a rash choice and just move forward. Thankfully, we had learned at that point in our faith walk that we always want to be in step with what God is doing, because things tend to get extra messy when we aren’t a part of what He intends. So we sought Him, we sought wise counsel, and it slowly became clear that moving was our next step.
For so many reasons, that was the hard decision and often times didn’t seem to make sense. But God knew better than we did. Now, I can’t say that I know exactly why we now live in Michigan. There hasn’t been this miraculous revelation that made the agonizing decision process so worth it. But I have seen His hand of blessing multiple times, He has confirmed over and over, in simple ways, that we made the right move. And, ultimately, I can feel that it was the right move because of the abundant life and amazing peace that has followed. Does abundant mean monetary blessings? Or physical blessings? No, it means my soul is right. And when my soul is right, when I am living in what He has for me, there is not a better feeling in this world. In fact, my physical health took a turn for the worst not long after we moved. It was difficult and I questioned things often. But, through it all, I had such a serene peace. Justin and I have both grown so much because of this move. We are both individually better because of it, and our relationship together is better.
So what is God asking of you in this season? Is He asking something big? A job change so you can better focus on your family? Or a move out of state? Or maybe it’s something more simple like giving up over-time to serve at the church or taking the leap to go to school and get that degree or asking someone to coffee.
Saying “yes” to God sometimes means saying “no” to other things. But those yeses make all the difference. One “yes” to Him can literally be the difference between life and death.
Take the next step. Take off your graveclothes. Step into LIFE!
What can you do to truly grow close to God today and allow Him to become the Lord of your life and not just a piece of it?
As noted above, our church is currently doing a sermon series very similar to what you’ve read here, so it’s a great place to dive a little deeper. You can find the series on most podcast services by searching @thejchurch