Sucked into Suburbia

Life in the suburbs is so quiet and peaceful, and I must say, I am really enjoying it so far.  Our neighborhood is one that's perfect for running or riding my bike in, and whenever I go out there are people working in their yards, walking their dogs, or playing in their sprinklers.  The mailman delivers mail on foot and everyone has a lamp post in their front yard.  It's kind of the quintessential suburbia you always imagine.

God has blessed our life so abundantly, and I don't want to take any of those blessings for granted.   I certainly believe that God wants us to enjoy what we have, but the problem lies when our enjoyment in the blessings becomes the priority.  I think when God blesses us, he wants us to share those blessings and use them to reach out to others.  I don't think God's end goal is for us to hoard the gifts he's given us.  When he gives us resources, I think he means for us to use them for his glory, and it's such an awesome picture of the life he's called us to live in Christ.

The danger of living so comfortably in suburbia (or living comfortably anywhere) is that we can get sucked into the lie that all these blessings are all about us.  It's easy to forget about the people around the world that have nothing and haven't heard the Gospel.  It's easy to think that God will just call someone else to go while we sit back, relax, and make another pitcher of iced tea.

I will admit, now that we're finally settled in and feel at home here, the thought of leaving for three months for Zambia seems a bit daunting.  We finally got our life together, and now we're picking it all up again and leaving.  That's been really hard for me, but I know that the life of service and surrender God has called us to is way more exciting that spending another day sitting on the couch in our air conditioned house.   God asks us to use our talents, gifts, money, and resources to bring him glory, and the fact that we get to play a part in bringing others closer to God is incredible.  When I look at my life in light of eternity, and the fact that serving God will never be a waste of time, I don't doubt for a moment that we've made the right choice.

Please be praying for us though, because I know that many challenges lay ahead.  Pray that we would stand firm against any temptation to trade in a life of service to God for a life of service to ourselves.  Pray that we wouldn't choose what is easy and comfortable over what is right and good, and that we would always have a Christ-centered focus.  God is good, and he is worthy of everything we have to give!