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“So often you blame God for the life you have…”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life (p. 176). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Here is the whole thought, “So often you blame God for the life you have, but you do not know what life you want.”  Is that true of you?  Do you know what you really want to give your life to?

Earlier Erwin says, “What I learned from twenty years of indecisiveness is that you will either define yourself or be defined by others. You will either choose your life or live a life that was never meant to be yours. How you end is profoundly affected by how you begin. You never begin the journey of creating the life you want until you know what you want. It’s only when you know what you want that you can say no to everything that wants you. I’ve seen it over and over again. You will never get what you want until you know what you want.”

Again, Erwin said, “So often you blame God for the life you have, but you do not know what life you want. Certainly, there is a dilemma here. The life you want may not be the life God wants for you. This is why the process must begin by loving God first. It is in loving God with all your heart and mind and soul that he begins to shape your passions. When God has your heart, you can trust your desires. His will is not a map; it is a match. He shows you the way by setting you on fire. You will know God’s desire for you by the fire in you! The fire in you will light the way.

So that is where we start.  In loving God with all our heart and mind and soul he begins to shape our passions. And as Erwin says, When God has your heart, you can trust your desires.”

I want the life that God has created and given his Son for me to live.  Even at 70 that is my passion.  Do you know what you want? 
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