Asleep At The Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel

Jonah 1: 3-6

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence

of the LORD, and went down to Joppa;

and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare

thereof, and went down into it, to go with them

unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea,

to lighten it of them.

But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship;

and he lay, and was fast asleep.

So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him,

What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God,

if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

14Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said,

We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee,

let us not perish for this man's life,

and lay not upon us innocent blood:

for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea:

and the sea ceased from her raging.

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly,

and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Life brings to each of us certain opportunities and challenges.

Someone said, “It is important what happens to you, but HOW YOU respond to what happens to you is MUCH more important.”

Like it or not…We actually DO determine our own destiny.

Sure there are LOTS of factors that INFLUENCE the choices we all make, but the bottom line is WE are IN the driver’s seat of life.

Most of us drive the same route to work each day.

I wonder if you, like me, have gotten to work and could not remember much along the way to work that day.

We go through the motions without much thought at all.

Ever do that in other areas of our journey here on earth?

Sometimes we allow our lives to become stale and uninspiring.

We begin to settle for the good enoughs and we don’t challenge ourselves to be who God has meant each of us to be.

We may pretend we are living a passionate life,

but really we are just going through the motions.

There have many times when I perfected the art of being busy.

My workload and long hours was impressive to some,

but I wasn’t accomplishing much of anything of real substance.

I wasn’t improving my relationships and I was not moving any closer to living my life’s purpose…I was not drawing nearer to God.

For me, it’s too easy to go through the motions.

I can get up in the morning, shave and begin my day with a calm and self-assured outward appearance.

I know how to say the right things and what to do, and not to do, that will create a favorable impression.

I know how to act like I‘ve got it all together,

but underneath the polished exterior I feel like I‘m falling apart.

My heart and my soul are longing for more.

We need to be honest when the realization smacks us in the face that we are moving, but not really going anywhere.

We sometimes confuse activity with progress…they are not the same.

When we feel our faith shaken, it’s time to be real with ourselves.

No more pretending.

No more going through the motions.

Right now is the right time to take hold of the gifts we have been given and let His presence awaken our weary souls.

We can NOT remain…Asleep at the Wheel.

John 8:36

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

When we hear our souls cry out to be free, we can choose to ignore the quiet desperation or we can respond by allowing His spirit to grant us the freedom it craves.

We often build personal prisons with walls constructed of should haves and poor choices of the past.

But to grow we need to wake our souls and tell them there is more to this life worrying about things we can NOT change.

Waiting for all of us is passion, loving kindness and the ability to open our minds and hearts to the refreshing overflow of His Spirit.

Be free to begin living the dream you have painted in your mind.

Be free to take the first brick out the wall that has made you motionless. Use these bricks to begin building a path to take you wherever you’ve always wanted to go.