Going against the grain

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN

Ok, I don't really know where that saying came from, but I know the concept is that it means swimming against the current, or doing the opposite of what most people are doing, or taking a more difficult road than most.

Most people want to take the easy way. Many want to follow the path of least resistance or follow the crowd. Many do not want to take any risks, or take criticism from others for their choices.

Just think if Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln, or others in our history books didn't do things that made people think they were crazy or if they gave up because people criticized them or told them to give up. The bible is full of examples of people who did things for God that others thought were crazy.

I know recently I left my temp position at toyota to take a job with lower pay to do something I enjoy instead of doing something I hated. Could I have stayed at toyota and possibly got on full-time and made alot of money? Maybe? Would I have been unhappy, miserable, and restless for the next thirty years? Defintely! I am currently working counseling/teaching troubled teens in a residential program. Is it easy, no. Is it difficult and stressful to teach troubled teens or unlearn bad behavior or attitudes? Yes! But, at this point in my life I feel this is where God wants me for now.

Will I stay at this position forever? Probably not? My point today is, that we can't always worry about what others think. We can base "OUR LIFE" on what others think we should or shouldn't do with our life. We should base our life on what we think God wants us to do with our life for His purpose, glory, and plan to the best of our ability, even when we fall short, make mistakes, and screw it up along the way.

Sometimes we want to do something because it's safe, familiar, and easy. But, diseases weren't cured, cities weren't built, and lives weren't changed by safe, familiar, and easy. You are a child of God. You are special, unique, and created with a purpose and a plan, not by chance or accident.

Your life is yours to live or ruin, to live an adventure or waste, to grow or slowly kill, and it's a life God gave you to live for Him. We make alot of plans, but things happens along the way that get us off track: death, divorce, lost job, lay-off, bankruptcy, depression, etc...whether you are contemplating a life change, a job change, or whatever you are facing, don't follow the crowd, take the easy way out, or give up, or worry what others may think. If you feel you are doing what God wants you to do, trust in Him, and allow Him to lead you.

"but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matt. 7:14(NIV)