Due to external pressure of this world upon your lifestyle you found it imperative at this juncture to acknowledge the need for assistance, protection and hope as your talents, treasure and courage have been found insufficient. Many of your friends with whom you have always maintained distance are Christ Followers and though previously you embraced the idea of ties with them now you are looking to them for answers. They have always displayed an inexplicable method of dealing joyously with trials and tragedies of life, a fact you have often admired but you thought their positivity during good times way outside your comfort zone. I mean who parades around proclaiming joy when times are good it made little sense to you.

However circumstance dictates that you reach outside of comfort or norm and embrace those things which though foreign have obviously provided consistent peace of mind for those you now acknowledge as Brethren not just casual friend. You have found comfort in fellowship and although you still feel an outsider you now see the benefits of believing upon something beyond yourself, someone beyond time providing the context for an absolute Truth. However you now feel real funny because you are not sure if you believe though you sing the songs and do Bible studies you still feel as if this is the positive side of conspiracy theories and that these people may need a little psychiatric assistance. What happens when things get better you admit for certain you will simply revert to the lifestyle of a Christian by name only.

But things keep getting worse and you are now being forced to make some real decisions about faith and hope that you never expected. The evidence is that things are not going to get better only continually deteriorate, leaving you gratefully with some decisions you least expected. You read something that really strikes you from the teachings of Jesus, He said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Luke 14:28 and you suddenly comprehend that not only is this meant for you but He knew that you would be right here at this point today. You become mindful of the commitment that Jesus is demanding and you begin to fear Him a bit for having the shear authority to require such surrender. Now those friends you made make sense as they come along side you and explain that is always choice but surrender to God’s Will has always been the Only Way.

That sudden inkling of fear opens up an entire universe you’d yet to ponder, for in fearing God you find the keys to wisdom that emboldens you to read and understand more of His Word through the Holy Spirit’s guidance. What you had once sought to escape you now find difficult to imagine dislodging. You have become comfortable in your Inn of the Holy Acquaintance and now begin to wonder how other people can survive in this World gone Awry with the Security and Sense that God alone provides. You laugh as it seems just yesterday that you were uncertain regarding the things of God and always keeping a side door open for escape and now you have boarded up the side door to create a place for you to study, worship and teach your children of God’s Goodness.

What you thought foolishness now you perceive as righteous life. Your friends give to you without expectation of return, your kids actually want to be around you and suddenly began asking for your opinion and guidance. This morning you received insight into the ministry issue you had lain before God only to have him provide immediate response. It was Yes and Amen and you are excited by the opportunities to serve God and locate personal fulfillment, where just hours before your plans all had to with retirement. You have been invited to participate in Street, Hospital, Food and Homeless ministries and you cannot imagine stopping or turning away for your true purpose. What now will you say about being saddled with the burdens of false Christian Faith? You turn and smile as you whisper to God, thank you for turning me into “someone else” forever.