Do You feng shui?
Recently my daughter-in-law (Christa) used a term that I was unfamiliar with. The term was feng shui. I have since come to find out that it is a Chinese philosophy of sorts. One application of this is that a feng shui consultant can come to your house and help rearrange your furniture so that you will be happier and healthier. Huh? That's what I said.
But then I realized that this is exactly what a lot of Christians do. They try to rearrange the circumstances of their life thinking that they will be happier and healthier. If they can just get that new job, new car, new house, new relationship, then they will be happier. Or maybe if they change churches, or go to a certain Bible study, or seminar, or read a certain book, then everything will be better. This is nothing more than Christian feng shui. It's thinking that if I change things on the outside I will feel better on the inside.
This is contrary to what the Bible says. We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10). If we have Christ we can know peace and joy in our hearts no matter what is going on around us. Paul said that he learned contentment in any circumstance because of the strength he found in Christ (Philippians 4:10-13). Jesus is the bread of life and we can be totally satisfied in Him (John 6:35). We need to stop thinking so much about what we don't have and spend more time rejoicing in what we do have in Christ - forgiveness, peace, joy, reconciliation, heaven, God Himself.
Leave the feng shui to the interior designers and set your heart on the One Who holds the universe together. He can hold your life together.
posted by Pastor Bruce @ 10:37 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Dad, Thanks for the thoughts on feng shui. They were funny but true. The Lord has often used trials for me to grow. However, because I don't like the sinking feeling in my stomach or facing the fact that I am not who I want to be I try to rearrange externals rather than addressing the issues of the heart. However, God can grow us in the midst of the most difficult circumstance! Thanks for the reminder!
Pastor Blakey, please forgive me for being so distant as of late, wow that latest post was really convicting to me. I have had the exact thoughts of "If I can just have a new job, or a new friendship, etc..." adverse circumstances are certainly an issue for me. But I need to be trusting God in those circumstances, not trying to rearange them, as you said, to make life more comfortable.
on a side note, I appreciated your comment about annonymity on ben's site. I hope you guys are thriving out there in Cali.
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