Ever had a really, really bad morning?

Well, I wouldn't say it was my bad morning to claim, but my husband Jacob certainly would be fair in claiming it..poor guy..





I can't tell you how it began, and that wouldn't matter anyway, but I can tell you that it ended in broken glass, glass that I had to pick up the pieces of once he'd gone.





My initial reaction was one of distaste, but the angrier I got, the more I thought... And suddenly (or should I say finally) I made a connection. And I thought to myself, "Could it be that these simple misgivings, these subtle mistakes that build up and shatter at the most inopportune times.. could their presence in our lives be a sign of a greater break, found deeper within than we'd been looking?





What I mean to say, simply, is that it doesn't feel much to me like Jake's and my ways, theories, actions, opinions have been flowing alongside that shimmering, holy and divinely flowing path of God.





It feels much to me like we are off track.





Even what could be seen as tiny mistakes, unimportant decisions... are no longer tiny and unimportant when the aftermath of our decision presents itself in the most unpleasant of ways. Our failures become clear, our faults seem to have been changed by default to bold instead of the light version of the font we'd originally selected.

Apparently these are little reminders (that too often feel like the end of our world) that we should be seeking sanctification with God. Or at least that's how I see it, for right now. And unfortunately..as much as I'd like to say that I hear His message loud and clear......He and I and everyone else knows that I'll need those continual reminders and maybe even sometimes a little broken glass.

Question #2

If sanctification is God's responsibility, then why don't we see more "sanctified" persons around us-especially among older adults, those who are supposed to be more mature Christians?

Conversely, if sanctification is primarily our responsibility, does this possibly explain why we don't see more "sanctified" people?

As I said before, I believe sanctification to be primarily our responsibility versus it being the primary responsibility of God. And being fallible, sinful beings, I certainly believe that we have lacked in our responsibility from the beginning of our existence and continue to do so everyday, which explains why we don't see more "sanctified" people.

Just to review (because I, myself, needed to be reminded of its definition), sanctification refers to an alignment with God, a oneness. Ways in which we can sanctify ourselves are through prayer, reading of scripture, attendance of sermons, participation in worship, and fellowship with other believers. These are the primary things that we have been taught to practice, as Christians, in order to better connect to our Creator. That isn't to say these are the only ways to feel God's presence (God has often spoken me through insects and dreams), but they are the fundamentals of our faith, the tools for re-teaching us the foundations of what we believe and why.

This morning, I finally returned to the basics. I opened my Bible, and while my foremost interest was in completing a reading assignment for Contemporary Christian Belief, God didn't care why I was there-He just cared that I was there-and he used the time to teach me things I had forgotten or had not previously understood. And though my brain is tired and overloaded with school work and important meeting times and I feel like it would kill me to try to remember what I learned from Corinthians this morning, I know that God will make room in my mind for those lessons at the time of my day when I most need them, because in making the effort to engage in His Word, I opened up an exchange between us and a route to santification.

And I know that, unless I give Him ways through which to speak to me and unless I train my mind and heart to listen to what He has to say in His time, I won't know what He's saying.. and I won't know how to interpret it properly when it comes. That's why it is so important that we are disciplined in our faith and that we are continually fulfilling our responsibility to seek sanctification with God.

Question #1

Is sanctification our responsibility or God's?

First of all, I was puzzled when I read this question because I wasn't entirely sure what "sanctification" meant. So I looked it up via google: and according to gotquestions.org (looked like the most legit option) a Christian's understanding of sanctification is the "practical separation unto God," which I took to mean that we "sanctify" ourselves (as Jesus requested in John 17v16) when we bind ourselves with God and his word and his teaching, making ourselves wholly (and holy) his. If this is the correct idea, the only thing left to do is to figure out what we need to do to latch onto God and remain there. And how do we find that out? Listen to our parents' pastor, the one they've been taking us to since before we could hold memories of anything different? Or just whatever our parents tell us themselves? Or just read the Bible and interpret those guidelines on our own? Is it even our responsibility, or is God supposed to go all the way and complete the work he began in us? (I can't remember the exact verse where we are given this promise, and biblegateway.com sucks at doing its job..)

Personally, it's hard for me to assign God responsibility..you know..considering that he is God and all. Who am I to assign him anything?

But seeing as how God created us and designed this whole thing (at least if you share my current world view) then hasn't he already done his reasonable part?

I know I'm just asking questions rather than answering one, but this is sorta what I do when it comes to God and the world. I'll try.

Simply, I believe that sanctification is our responsibilty, that God is constantly moving and working in and through the world and it is our job to recognize his movements and listen for his voice and receive his guidance and the more we do this, the more connected we become to him and the greater our sanctification. And it doesn't really matter how we do this..whether we receive guidance in this area through our pastor or our parents or the word... but ultimately I believe that the most beneficial and efficient way to know God and to be unified with him is to realize that he is within each of us, that we are already so much like him as we are made in his image, and that he reveals himself to us even in the small things (and that sometimes, the small things make more sense than all the complexities created by religion.)