Wow. It's been a while. I've missed this. So why haven't I been blogging? Hmmm, several reasons, I guess: I can usually only blog in the evenings, and am usually too tired to think, much less converse; Facebook was satisfying my need to put my thoughts out there to my cyber-friends; I kept thinking I needed to start off with some big, fantastic blog with lots of followers, and would get discouraged when I kept falling short.
A lot of that thinking has changed. I'll start with the last one first: this is MY blog, and it doesn't have to fill anyone else's shoes - just mine. No one's blog started off big and fantastic with lots of followers, and if I only ever have 6 followers, then that's enough for me. My main purpose for blogging is not to entertain the masses, but to share my thoughts with my friends - especially those thoughts that God has been teaching me.
That may be another reason why I haven't been blogging: not to sound too lofty, but maybe, just maybe, the enemy of my soul has been keeping me distracted. Just before I stopped blogging on a semi-regular basis, I had shared with a friend that I felt like God wanted me to use this blog to share the amazing things God is teaching me. I have a gift of prophecy, which means a gift for declaring truth. What better platform than this blog? The devil obviously doesn't want the truth to go out in any way. Well, I'm done cooperating with that plan.
And finally, the Facebook distraction. As of last week, I am no longer doing FB. I deactivated my account. I had been wrestling with that decision for a long time. It became too much of a time drain, and it was competing with my time that I should have been spending with God. Our pastor has been challenging us to give up things that distract us from hearing from God and seeking Him. I was choosing time on Facebook over time with God - in other words, it had become an idol for me. It was also compromising other priorities - like getting in bed on time, conversation with people in my house, and blogging.
I don't have anything against Facebook itself, or anyone who uses it. It's just for me, at this time at least, it's gotta go. I want my relationship with God to be my number one priority. I don't want anything else to get in the way of that. Seriously. When I do get rid of the distractions and spend that time with Him instead, I am always amazed at His amazing grace, and at the things He shows me. Do you know how much He desires our undivided attention? How delighted He is when we let Him show us some of the wonders He has for us? Someone recently showed me a picture. It depicted Christ sitting in a forest with a child in His lap, tucked up against Him under one arm, while He was holding a butterfly on the end of His finger on His other arm. The child was delighted with the butterfly, and Christ was delighted in the child's delight. That child is you and me - if you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior. He wants to pick us up and sit us on His lap, tuck us up under His arm, and then show us the wonders of His grace, mercy, love, and Creation itself. I have tried to hold one of my children before, but because they didn't want to put down their toys, I either couldn't pick them up at all, or had to hold them at arms length because the toys were in the way. I want to put down my toys so that He can pick me up and tuck me under His arm. I want to lay my head on His breast, and behold the wonders He has in store for me. And I want to share what He shows me with you.
