Grieving God's Heart

I wonder if we live with a greater sense of discouragement in our lives because we focus too much on how far we have to go and not enough on how far we have come?

It is so easy for me to focus on the future. How I want my marriage to be better. How I need to improve as a husband; as a father; as a leader; as a friend. There are always things that I can do better. I need to listen more. I need to engage more. I need to help out more.

I listen more now than I did 10 years ago.

I am more in tune with Trisha emotionally today than I ever have been.

I am more involved in my kids’ lives that I was 6 years ago.

I have a greater sense of where God is leading our family than I did 3 years ago.

The same is true in my relationship with God. I get so bogged down with how much I don’t get right. I focus so much attention and energy on all the areas that I have to improve and work on and grow in.

But I am not the same person that I was 2 years ago, 5 years ago, 8 years ago.  God has transformed me and refined me and recreated me. Yet, I tend to only focus on what is undone, what is a mess, what needs work.

I wonder if I grieve God’s heart by discounting the work He has done by only focusing on what He has left to do?

I don’t know your story, but I’m confident you have things in your life that need work. You should be a better friend. You should be a better sister. You should be a better husband. You should be a more understanding parent. You should be a more forgiving wife.

But if you’ve walked with Christ for a while, I bet you aren’t the same person that you used to be. I imagine God has done a work in your life and heart and you are different. You have changed.

Looking back doesn’t mean that we ignore our need to look forward. It does mean that we recognize God’s amazing grace in our lives, our relationships and our decisions and give Him the glory that He deserves, as He continues to transform us.

In fact, I think there have been times in my life that I have been stagnant in God’s transformation in my life, because I have been unwilling to look back and notice the changes He had already brought about.

What about you?

Do you need to look back today and see that you’re not who you used to be?