The Low Plains of Satisfaction

This morning, with choruses echoing in my head of Mick Jagger singing "I can't get no..." I took in my morning devotion (I know...a unique soundtrack to a devotion). The closing line from Oswald Chambers read, "If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it." I couldn't help but wonder at that statement. So often, I stand on the mountaintop, experiencing a renewed sense of seeing--new eyes and new passion. From here, I promptly go down and decide how these things should come to pass. I set my mind on the best path and whether it's God or other people telling me, "that may not be the best path" I endure. Wow, I'm so strong and smart....

Inevitably my plans (and even the prize at the end) are poorly conceived, flawed, confused. I may start making concessions, trying to satisfy my bruising ego, or making new goals and plans with a revived sense of resolve. If only I could stop. If only I could breathe. Just a moment. Allow myself to take the good, hard road and to be shaped for the greater purpose-the greater goal. To be content, simple, faithful.

Perhaps the most common words that have echoed through my head over the course of the last 6 months have been, "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me." What a beautiful, deep, and difficult thing. If ever something was "relevant" to a culture where my life is "me."