Every year the NYI Zaanstad goes on a weekend camp! The pictures of this camp are online now. Please visit the |
Overcoming hurdles – coming closer to God
Written by Lara Mohn
|
|
Maybe you are trying hard to find God in your daily life. But all three ingredients of the ‘secret’ formula, fellowship, ‘God activities’ and expectation/attention, come with difficulties (see blog ‘Meeting God outside the campground – the ‘secret’ formula’). Why would that be? And what can you do about it? Fellowship Think about this… You feel bad, because your parents fight and you are afraid they will get a divorce. But you won’t talk about this with your friends, because they might not care or they might think you’re just whining. Instead of opening up to each other we often tend to keep our worries to ourselves. Now think about this… You see a girl in your class who doesn’t look so happy. But you won’t talk to her, because other kids don’t like her and won’t like you either if you talk to her. Instead of reaching out to each other we often tend to stay where we are. In both situations you find the influence of our individualistic community. Breaking this tendency is not easy. But if you do, you will find God working. Open up to others about your fears and failures, and reach out to others when you see their needs. ‘God Activities’ You will probably recognize the thought ‘The Bible is so boring…’, it is hard to read it. You know, we are used to movies, video games, loud and fast music, being reachable everywhere via cell phones etc. Everything in your world is loud, fast and exciting. If it isn’t it won’t grab your attention. And the Bible happens to be not so loud, fast and exciting. So starting to read and finding God in it is not easy, because you need to learn to appreciate the quiet. Things that are loud are invasive. God won’t invade your life; He’ll wait for you to answer Him. Things that are fast are hard to grasp in depth. God wants for us to take time to grasp the things He says to us. Things that are exciting only excite because adrenaline starts flowing. God wants to be exciting to us on a deeper level so growth will take place. Expectation and Attention Today everybody can believe what he wants to believe. Nothing is absolute, so neither is the truth. This and other things might make us doubt whether God will actually interact with us. We believe, but doubt is raised by everything around us. Our doubts tend to make us passive. If we are not sure what to concentrate on, it is hard to concentrate on God. It is important to confront our doubts, to ask God to help us work through them. Ignoring them and acting as if you are sure won’t work. The stronger you’re convinced about your faith, the more you’ll be able to listen and pay attention to what God has to say. And the only way to make your faith stronger, is by working through the doubts you have. Our society doesn’t make it easy for us to believe. We are individualistic, used to fast media and fed doubts by everything around us. I pray you will learn to find God in the midst of this society. God bless! Daily questions to think about: Fellowship
‘God Activities’
Expectation and Attention
|
Schools have started again. Back to the ordinary… biking through the rain with friends, being late for school, stress for the exams taken, nervous because the teacher might find out you didn’t do your homework. The great atmosphere of youth camp is far away, like it is a different world that can’t be combined with your ordinary daily life. 
Comments