Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Awakening

So this is just some of my thoughts. They aren't right or wrong. They are just my ramblings of what God has been opening my eyes to and I wanted to share...

When it comes to being awakened by God you CAN'T miss it! I imagine an alarm clock going off next to our sleeping heads. You can do just enough to get by and press the snooze button but in the next 5 to 10 minutes it's going to go off again. Or you could just sleep right through it and completely drown out and ignore the annoying buzzing sound taking place to wake you up and get your attention until you feel like stirring! Better yet, you could acknowledge the awakening and turn off the alarm but the next step is to get OUT OF BED and get going!! What's sad is that some people have turned off the alarm but they have gone back to sleep and won't wake up until it is too late. They have denied the fact that it is time to WAKE UP!

I admit that I have the hardest time waking up.... you can ask all my friends and family and they'll all tell you that I am a night owl. So when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning I really struggle with it. So many a times, probably too many, I have hit the "snooze" button.

This analogy really helps me to grasp the awakening of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Alarm clock = Holy Spirit. God uses the Holy Spirit to get our attention by convicted our hearts.

Are you in tune with the Holy Spirit? When we fail to check our alarm clocks to even see if they are on or is broken to where it won’t go off that’s when we get in trouble the next time we need to be woken up.

This world has become so desensitized to the Holy Spirit because of what we are surrounded by. My biggest pet peeve is cursing and dirty language but I hear it and see it everywhere!!! Music, TV, magazines, your fellow worker, etc. Now I can avoid some of these but I found myself compromising to some of it, especially when it came to music. Now don’t get me wrong. I love music but there is a lot of music out there that shouldn’t be. Anyways, I started listening to a lot more secular music that had inappropriate messages and words but I didn’t really notice it that much because I had grown “accustomed” to hearing it. When I was awakened to where I was going, it disgusted me and I hated it. That’s how we should view evil; as something disgusting and hateful. I’m not saying all secular music is evil but let’s be honest, a LOT of it is.

I excused myself from all secular music* and only listened to praise and worship. Now you may think this is an extreme… but I felt I needed to tune my heart and become sensitive to His presence again. For me, the only way I can prepare my heart for something like that is to listen to powerful worship.

Now I don’t only listen to Christian music. I love a lot of different artists. I am a fan of almost all genres. Yes, including country, for all of you who don’t think that is music. Although, when I came across some songs that had even one word of language or the message was twisted, I couldn’t believe how much it hurt me. It was almost like I felt like someone was punching my gut and twisting my insides out. That’s how I also feel when I watch scary movies. I can’t do it. My spirit had become so sensitive to things that weren’t pleasing to the Lord.

Please don’t confuse me as some super godly person that can’t even bear to look at something wrong. Sometimes I don’t recognize it as wrong. I still have SO much to work on… Just certain things affect me. Also, I’m not only referring to music here. That’s just where God opened my eyes. Find out where God is trying to wake you up.

My point is: is your alarm clock ready to go off when you need to wake up?

You know what’s even better?! I don’t know about you but I really don’t like being woken up by an alarm. It annoys the crap** out of me!

What’s better is when I’m so used to waking up early that I can pretty much just open my eyes at the exact same time each morning ready to go. My mom and I always say that it is God waking us up. How amazing that would be if we were so in tune with the Holy Spirit that we have God gently waking us up without the loud and obnoxious sounds. Just a soft whisper in the morning saying “Goodmorning, my beloved child. Look and see what a day I have created for you outside your window.” I don’t know about you, but that’s how I want to wake up EVERY morning!!

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!

“Like the rising sun that shines, from the darkness comes a light. I hear Your voice and this is my AWAKENING!”

*and I mean ALL!!

** Yes, I did just use that word. Homeschool shun, I know. :P