still learning to listen

A lot of things struck me tonight, and (without meaning to sound blasphemous) I think that sometimes God gets tired of dropping subtle hints and instead goes for more of what I call "hitting you over the head with a hammer" type tactics, and that's how I kind of feel tonight (not pounded into a pulp, nor even overwhelmed by forcefulness, but impacted greatly enough that I can't just let this stuff go without giving it a second look).

So many distractions!! Sorry.

So, here, in no particular order (generally I'd do chronological but at this point I actually want to get away from the computer and my phone and just spend some alone time) are some of the things bouncing around in my head- there may or may not be connection between some or all of them. That's what I'm trying to figure out.
(PS a lot of this is stolen- I'm just putting down what is prompting the thinking of tonight)

- I was reading Ephesians earlier tonight and a few things stuck out: that God would make us alive in Christ even while we are still dead in transgression (we don't have to change and become "good" in order to become God's child, but becoming God's child certainly does change us), that each of us have pre-ordained positions, interests, abilities in life that will allow us to carry out His plan (provided of course that we get ourselves out of the way), that He can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, but it's GOT to be His way and not ours, and that we need to live life carefully, as everything we do must point to Him (and when it doesn't, we aren't doing what we should be).
In other words, everything we do should exalt Jesus Christ (connection 1 made).

- We want God to bring us from Point A to Point B, but we expect for Him to make it easy for us (after all, it is definitely in His power to do so, and we as humans would probably use that power if it were ours to wield). However, it doesn't always (I would say usually) work that way- often the path God sets before us is narrow and at times quite difficult. We've got to realize that the difficulty of the path is not for us to choose; we do have to choose if we will follow His way or get off the course He has set before us (and when we do that, the going gets tougher rather than easier, in the long-term if not in the short-term). If we trust that God is taking us somewhere amazing, then how can we question the way in which He is going to make that happen? It's difficult to really take that step of faith, and it's so easy to fall back into the known, the comfortable, the places where we've already been, but don't we want more than that? Don't we want to become something better, to pursue a life that is blameless and holy and acceptable and honoring to God? It's not our way in to Heaven, but with everything that He has and continues to put up with, it is so selfish to take advantage of filling human desires that do not align with His will (whatever sin we struggle with personally: pride, lust, a critical spirit, whatever it is). The paths He brings us down are a tool for sanctification.

- Is our life an outward expression of everything we feel inside? Sometimes we don't realize how more real of a person we become when we allow our true reaction come out. That is not to say that we should just become emotion spurting machines, throwing out every great and awful attitude we feel in every situation. However, I think sometimes we throw up the shield before we even give people a chance to see what we are experiencing. Like everything else, there's a balance, and everyone's point of balance is relative, but I think it's worth it to take a look at where we each fall on the spectrum and see if we are being "over-reactive" or "under-reactive." I would hazard a guess that most of us are probably the latter.

- Finally (and for me I think this is a very important thing to consider): God doesn't make mistakes.