3 Ways To Defeat The Tension

Do you ever feel the tension?

If you have been in the church any amount of time, you will understand what I’m talking about.

John Piper wrote a book a few years ago called Don’t Waste Your Life. In it he describes doing more than just spending your time in retirement looking for seashells on the beach. Or simply playing golf. Neither of those things are wrong in the right place. However, when those things become our focus instead of what God has called us to do, then we have a problem. Then we have a wasted life.

So you (or I) have decided that we won’t wasted our life. We want to follow Him and seek Him in every area of our lives. We want to find the role the Lord has for us in His church. We want to be on the front lines of the Christian life with our brothers and sisters.

And nothing comes. Nothing jumps out at you. The opportunities don’t present themselves to us.

So, we have tension pulling on us from that direction.

Then we remember.

We remember that we should wait on the Lord. Why? Because those who wait mount with wings like eagles. They run and don’t grow faint. They walk and don’t grow weary.

So, we wait.

And the tension pulls us in that direction.

The tension mounts.

What do we do?

This tweet hit the Twitterverse a few days ago: Activity does not equal service. Just because we jump in and start doing anything or everything doesn’t mean that we are actually serving the Lord. We just may be involved in some activity.

On the flip side, we cannot be found guilty of just passively waiting for God to act.

So, what are we to do? How do we combat the tension?

1. Find a task for the Lord you can do. Joyfully. In service to Him. It may not be big. It may be a tiny thing. But find just one place where you can joyfully serve the Lord.

2. Commit to it. Be found faithful. Get there early. Put your heart into it.

3. Listen to the church.  They want you to work where the Lord wants you.  They will recognize where you should be.

Actively wait on the Lord. The tension will work itself out. The Lord will present you with more opportunities.. Perhaps “bigger” opportunities. You will find out where you are gifted. You will find your place. You will defeat the tension.

What ways have you found effective in defeating the tension?

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