Want to Do an Amazing Thing? Enjoy God
—Grace & Truth Linkup
Underachieving?
What have you accomplished during the past 6 months of the pandemic? Have you compared your life now to your life a year ago?
Prior to the pandemic, I had built a tidy schedule of activities that felt meaningful and were enjoyable.
But the past few months? Many of those opportunities have been canceled. I feel I’m doing very little out there in the “real world.”
Often we lose our purpose when our activities change. And many of our opportunities have changed drastically in 2020.
But what if we’re measuring our purpose with the wrong yardstick?
Instead of judging ourselves as underachievers this year, what if we reevaluated what we’re trying to achieve anyway?
Remember What God Really Wants
Beth Bullington’s story is a wakeup call. She’s the mother of a daughter with special needs. But she doesn’t want our pity because of it.
And she doesn’t want us to be sad for her daughter, assuming her daughter can’t do amazing things because of her disabilities.
Instead, Beth reminds us of this:
“Remember what God really wants. Loving God is the amazing thing that each of us can do.”
Beth’s daughter finds enjoyment in her life. Everything is her favorite. She “appreciates things, expresses joy, and tells people that. That is reflecting God.”
Yes!
The most amazing thing any of us can do is to enjoy God.
This Is Amazing
Look for God’s goodness today. Discover God’s grace. Delight in God’s presence. This is loving God.
And loving God is its own reward.
That doesn’t mean life will be easy. Or that we’ll always feel happy. But enjoying God will give us more contentment, even in the hard times.
Godly contentment reminds us that:
- all things eventually pass,
- we receive grace in the meantime,
- and that God stays with us the whole time.
And who knows? Maybe one day we’ll even change our definition of “hard” things.
I’ve been counting 2020 as a hard year. Maybe years from now, I’ll look back on it as a year God shifted my thinking into a healthier direction. A direction of less comparison. Of more contentment. Of more enjoyment of him.
That would be amazing.
Featured Post
Read all of Beth’s post here at her blog, AsHeLeadsIsJoy.com:
“Don’t Pity Me Because I Am a Special Needs Mom“
What amazing thing can you do? Share your own blog posts at the linkup below.
Thanks for sharing, Beth! Here’s a button for your blog.
1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.
2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.
3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).
We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.
MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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Now Let’s Link Up!
Have you felt like you’ve done more this year, or less? Where have you seen God at work in 2020? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Whoa! The mind set you are writing about is cross shaped and utterly alien to me, unless I am operating faithfully from the mind of Christ in me.
That’s how I felt when I read Beth’s post, too, Michele. It was very refreshing to hear her viewpoint!
This sounds like an awesome read! Thanks for highlighting Beth’s article. I definitely intend to read it!
I think you’ll appreciate Beth’s article as much as I did, Patti. She has some great insights.
“Remember what God really wants. Loving God is the amazing thing that each of us can do.” I love this quote. I find that most projects take about twice as long as I think they will. Thank you for the reminder that honoring Him, and not productivity is what matters most.
Thank you for hosting too. Wishing you a happy Friday!
Ugh, I so relate to projects taking longer than expected. I sketch out my day in the morning but even when I try to pad for unexpected interruptions, etc., I still find that I grossly underestimate how long everything will take. I need these kinds of reminders to loosen my grip on what I count as “productive” and see it from God’s perspective instead. Thanks, Jed!
Amen! May I open my heart more to see how loving HIM is the best gift of all! Thank you for sharing this great article today at Beth’s site, and for all that you do to encourage us in loving Christ. Blessings to you, dear Lisa.
Thank you, Bettie. I appreciate your faithful heart to praise God and encourage others. You’re a treasure and a great example of someone who has learned how to enjoy God despite hard circumstances.
Hey Lisa,
This is such a great message. I also loved that article you featured and appreciate your further application of it. Resetting our purpose and vision of success is so helpful. I have also found it’s true that “enjoying God will give us more contentment, even in the hard times.” Thanks for hosting and have a great weekend!
Thanks, Marielle. Beth’s message really spoke to me as soon as I read it, and then I returned to it and it affected me even more. I so appreciate our community of God-centered people (including you!) who share their insights on their blogs with all of us. Hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!
“Instead of judging ourselves as underachievers this year, what if we reevaluated what we’re trying to achieve anyway?” – This. I stopped using last year’s yardstick earlier this year when I realised so many things were out of my control. I also love your featured post – I read it earlier this week and it really blessed me. “Loving God is the amazing thing that each of us can do”. Great post x
Yes, so many things out of our control! This year has been like none other. Thanks for your encouragement, Wemi! Easing up on myself is something I’m still working on…..