Sunday, December 22, 2024
32.5 F
Atlanta

Something’s Missing: Find the Missing Piece of the Puzzle in God

Alright, so I wanted an Apple Watch, but I figured I didn’t need it. Yet, this “want” didn’t go away and ultimately became my birthday request. My mom got me this watch and I was determined to use all the features I could, downloading new apps and customizing them to my liking.

A couple of weeks after I got my watch, I received an email that had an offer for Apple Fitness+. If you subscribed, you got three months free before the monthly $9.99 a month kicked in. Since I’d decided to do better with fitness and I had the most expensive watch I had ever owned planted on my wrist, I thought I should give it a whirl.

So, I signed up and read the initial instructions. Now, the only way for me to access the workouts was for me to log on to the summary app on my phone. I grabbed my phone, eager to get started, and tapped into the app. Well, I couldn’t find the Fitness+ tab. I thought maybe I was looking in the wrong place, but this was it. I did a google search (y’all know we Google everything) and found that in order for me to access the tab, I had to have the latest update on my phone. Once it was updated, there it was, as plain as day. I was able to access the tools I needed to get maximum use out of my watch. Which is the point, I mean, what good is it if I don’t utilize the features and benefits?

Is God Holding Your Missing Piece?

missing pieceYou want my point, right? Well, no matter how ready I was to get started, though I’d paid for this subscription, and even though I had all the equipment I needed to crush these at-home workouts, I couldn’t because my phone’s software was outdated. I was in need of an update.

What am I telling you? I am saying that you may have what you need – the equipment, the resources, the know-how – but your thoughts and methods may be outdated. You may not have the faith to move forward with the next steps for your present task. There may be something holding you back that only God can release you from. Either way, you need an update.  

So, What’s the Play Call?

It can be easy to get discouraged when everything seems to be in place, but nothing seems to line up. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you plug in for your “update”:

  1. Be renewed. Only God can provide us with the type of energy that we need in order to carry out His plans for us. Let Him change you to line up with His will. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2
  2. Rely on God’s strength. See, when we depend on ourselves to figure things out, there will always be a missing factor. Remember where your true strength lies. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:13‬
  3. Trust the knowledge of God. Eventually, I had to Google to find out why I couldn’t access the Fitness portion of my app. I needed to look to a source more knowledgeable on the subject than myself. This is what God wants from us, for us to look to Him for the answers we cannot come up with on our own. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭
  4. Be willing to wait. Just like with my phone, updates won’t come out every day. There will be times when you cannot carry out a plan because it’s not time. God will replenish you and update you when it is. “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalms‬ ‭27:14‬ 

Always remember that God’s way and timing are perfect and He will give you the “update” you need to do all that you were created to do. 

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

HIGHLIGHTS

They Changed Their Minds about Slavery and Left a Bible Record

Two businessmen’s unusual conversion in 1700s South Carolina led them to liberate the people they put in bondage. At first glance, William Turpin and his business partner, Thomas Wadsworth, appeared to be like most other prestigious and powerful white men in late 18th-century South Carolina. They were successful Charleston merchants, had business interests across the state, got involved in state politics, and enslaved numerous human beings. Nothing about them seemed out of the ordinary. But, quietly, these two men changed their minds about slavery. They became committed abolitionists and worked to free dozens of enslaved people across South Carolina. When most wealthy, white Carolinians were increasingly committed to slavery and defending it as a Christian institution, Turpin and Wadsworth were compelled by their convictions to break the shackles they had placed on dozens of men and women. In an era when the Bible was edited so that enslaved people wouldn’t get the idea that God cared about their freedom, Turpin left a secret record of emancipation in a copy of the Scriptures, which is now in the South Carolina State Museum. Perhaps it’s not surprising that this story of faith and freedom is mostly unknown. The two men were, after all, working not to attract attention. Neither had deep roots in Charleston or close familial ties to its storied white “planter” dynasties. Turpin’s family was originally from Rhode Island, and Wadsworth was a native of Massachusetts who moved to South Carolina only shortly after the American Revolution. Both had public careers and served in the South Carolina Legislature, but their political profiles were not particularly high. Neither of them appeared to give any of their legislative colleagues the sense that they were developing strong, countercultural opinions on one of the most ...Continue reading...

Trolls Band Together in Theaters November 17th

Nothing's Stronger Than Family Harmony About This holiday season, get ready...

Are State Laws the Solution to Kids’ Access to Porn?

As data continues to show the harms of viewing porn, particularly for children, support for stricter legal limits on pornographers has grown.

The Burial: A Glimpse Into the Life of William Gary

The Burial: Based on a True Events About Inspired by true...

Pandemic Restrictions Had No Lasting Effect on Churches, Study Finds

Even in states where regulations were severe, most congregations moved on quickly. Jeff Schoch was ready to be done with COVID-19 health safety regulations. Like most ministers in the US, the pastor of Crossroads Bible Church in San Jose, California, did his best to comply with the many pandemic rules imposed by state and local governments. But as soon as they were lifted, he wanted to put them all behind him. He quickly tore down the state-mandated signs about social distancing, hand washing, and masks. “I got rid of every visual reminder in the church,” Schoch told CT. “I was anxious, personally, to make that a memory.” Across the country, Protestant congregations are dealing with the long-term impacts of the pandemic. A new, extensive study by Arbor Research Group and ChurchSalary, a ministry of Christianity Today, found that a lot of pastors are still in crisis. Some furloughed staff members haven’t gone back to work. And even when attendance numbers have rebounded, there are still people missing from many congregations. Christian leaders will likely be grappling with the fallout from COVID-19 for years to come. But, surprisingly, state-level pandemic restrictions had no measurable, lasting impact on American churches. Even in places like San Jose—where the county government imposed some of the strictest rules in the country, the restrictions changed frequently, and authorities aggressively went after churches they said failed to comply—pastors like Schoch were able to just move on. The data doesn’t show any adverse effects from the government regulations. Eric Shieh, a research consultant for Arbor Research, said that surprised him. “You would think that the restrictions made things tougher for churches. They didn’t meet as much, and so you’d ...Continue reading...

Topics

They Changed Their Minds about Slavery and Left a Bible Record

Two businessmen’s unusual conversion in 1700s South Carolina led them to liberate the people they put in bondage. At first glance, William Turpin and his business partner, Thomas Wadsworth, appeared to be like most other prestigious and powerful white men in late 18th-century South Carolina. They were successful Charleston merchants, had business interests across the state, got involved in state politics, and enslaved numerous human beings. Nothing about them seemed out of the ordinary. But, quietly, these two men changed their minds about slavery. They became committed abolitionists and worked to free dozens of enslaved people across South Carolina. When most wealthy, white Carolinians were increasingly committed to slavery and defending it as a Christian institution, Turpin and Wadsworth were compelled by their convictions to break the shackles they had placed on dozens of men and women. In an era when the Bible was edited so that enslaved people wouldn’t get the idea that God cared about their freedom, Turpin left a secret record of emancipation in a copy of the Scriptures, which is now in the South Carolina State Museum. Perhaps it’s not surprising that this story of faith and freedom is mostly unknown. The two men were, after all, working not to attract attention. Neither had deep roots in Charleston or close familial ties to its storied white “planter” dynasties. Turpin’s family was originally from Rhode Island, and Wadsworth was a native of Massachusetts who moved to South Carolina only shortly after the American Revolution. Both had public careers and served in the South Carolina Legislature, but their political profiles were not particularly high. Neither of them appeared to give any of their legislative colleagues the sense that they were developing strong, countercultural opinions on one of the most ...Continue reading...

Trolls Band Together in Theaters November 17th

Nothing's Stronger Than Family Harmony About This holiday season, get ready...

Are State Laws the Solution to Kids’ Access to Porn?

As data continues to show the harms of viewing porn, particularly for children, support for stricter legal limits on pornographers has grown.

The Burial: A Glimpse Into the Life of William Gary

The Burial: Based on a True Events About Inspired by true...

Pandemic Restrictions Had No Lasting Effect on Churches, Study Finds

Even in states where regulations were severe, most congregations moved on quickly. Jeff Schoch was ready to be done with COVID-19 health safety regulations. Like most ministers in the US, the pastor of Crossroads Bible Church in San Jose, California, did his best to comply with the many pandemic rules imposed by state and local governments. But as soon as they were lifted, he wanted to put them all behind him. He quickly tore down the state-mandated signs about social distancing, hand washing, and masks. “I got rid of every visual reminder in the church,” Schoch told CT. “I was anxious, personally, to make that a memory.” Across the country, Protestant congregations are dealing with the long-term impacts of the pandemic. A new, extensive study by Arbor Research Group and ChurchSalary, a ministry of Christianity Today, found that a lot of pastors are still in crisis. Some furloughed staff members haven’t gone back to work. And even when attendance numbers have rebounded, there are still people missing from many congregations. Christian leaders will likely be grappling with the fallout from COVID-19 for years to come. But, surprisingly, state-level pandemic restrictions had no measurable, lasting impact on American churches. Even in places like San Jose—where the county government imposed some of the strictest rules in the country, the restrictions changed frequently, and authorities aggressively went after churches they said failed to comply—pastors like Schoch were able to just move on. The data doesn’t show any adverse effects from the government regulations. Eric Shieh, a research consultant for Arbor Research, said that surprised him. “You would think that the restrictions made things tougher for churches. They didn’t meet as much, and so you’d ...Continue reading...

A Million Miles Away Trailer: Some Dreams Are Closer Than You Think

Catch "A Million Miles Away", inspired by the real-life story and grit of NASA flight engineer José Hernández

Shooting Stars Review: Young Lebron James & Friends, Managing the Pressure

Shooting Stars, depicting Lebron James and his childhood friends, gives us a glimpse of unity under pressure and bonds that last a lifetime.

Creed III Review and Michael B. Jordan’s Two-Word Sermon for Facing the Past

CREED III, ready to rumble on March 3rd. Read our review, including Michael B. Jordan's two-word sermon for viewers facing their past.
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x