Welcome to the newly re-launched Adjusting to the World, a blog about experiencing God in the everyday moments of life. I’ve been blogging for awhile now and have only now decided to take it to the next level. God has brought me to this place…and even as I say that, I’m not entirely sure what “this place” is. It’s good, though….and I know it’s going somewhere. That’s good enough for me.
New readers may be wondering, “Why Adjusting to the World? What does that mean?” Come to think of it, any of my faithful readers may be wondering the same thing. I’m not sure I’ve ever addressed that question, but it deserves an explanation.
A few years ago, soon after one of my sweet nieces was born, my husband Scott and I were praying for her. Scott said a few words that burned in my ears and lingered on my heart for days. He prayed, “Help the new baby as she is adjusting to this world.” That hit me as being a very profound statement, and I realized that all of us, really, need help adjusting to the world.
This concept is all over Scripture. 1 Peter 2 calls us “aliens and strangers in this world,” and Jesus himself prayed for us, his followers, saying, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:15-16)
“Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ…their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!” (Philippians 3:18-4:1)
We are here on earth as foreigners, surrounded on all sides by people and messages that would oppose what we know to be true. We are strangers in the only world we have ever known, doing the best we can to stay strong and not forget what lies in our hearts despite being constantly bombarded with conflicting evidence.
We are all adjusting to the world. None of us were created for this world. We were created for something beyond this place we live in, for a life beyond what we will ever experience here. All of us, like newborn babies, are in a world that is familiar and yet foreign. All of us are adjusting to the world. No, we are not to conform to the world and the patterns we find here….but are to stand for truth within it. The truth remains that we are pretty different from what the world knows and believes.
I strive to focus in my daily life – in those everyday moments that often go unnoticed – on the fact that I was created for more than what meets the eye. My life isn’t as cut and dry as it may appear. In any given moment, as I’m going about my day grocery shopping, rushing through traffic, playing with my daughter, eating supper with my family…God is trying to get my attention. Like a care package from home delivered to a college student away from home, God sends a special delivery to me right in the middle of everything to remind me of home. He sends special gifts – special moments – to remind me of His love and the fact that no matter where I go…what I’m doing…I’m His. I’m His. I’m in another world – a place far from the one I was created for – and He doesn’t want me to forget. As I fix my eyes on Him, as best I can (because I am human, after all), He meets me there.
Through it all….I’m in a strange place, and the One who loves me hasn’t forgotten. I am adjusting to the world, and I invite you to join me as we look for the hidden care packages God has placed within every day.
It’s bound to be a beautiful journey. Again, welcome. I look forward to seeing you again soon.