Transparent Tuesday: Putting God FIRST

Last week, I used Anything by Jennie Allen to talk about avoiding getting caught up by material things. You can read that post here. When we can overcome that desire to live the American Dream, we can then put God FIRST in our lives. 

Part 2

We seize more of God when He seizes us through our broken dreams Sometimes we get so caught up in the world, that God has to break us down so that we will actually turn to Him. I have seen this play over in my life several times. I get busy being "of the world", and I start trying to do things on my own, and God has to pull me back towards him through my brokenness. Is God evil because He causes brokenness? No! He loves us so much. He wants ALL of us. Love is jealous, especially God’s love. He wants me and I want everybody else.

God was REAL and Heaven was coming and I wanted to hold every moment on earth in light of that moment when I would meet God face-to-face. So I get a wake up call, and He gets all of me. But then, it becomes somewhat of a game for me. I get caught up in "holding every moment on earth in light of that moment when I would meet God face-to-face" and I start searching for moments. The intentions of my heart are no longer to serve God, but to serve myself and my satisfaction and my pride, etc. 

What if the things I thought He wanted from me were the very things keeping me from Him? I have always felt like my life had a specific purpose. I feel set apart. I feel like God is going to use me to do something magnificent for Him. But sometimes, I search for that “something”. I volunteer for something, and then wonder…”is this it?”. I plan for the future and wonder, “will that be it?” And the whole time that I wonder or plan, I am missing out on GOD’s plan for my life, the ultimate plan. I try to find what I think He made me for, and I miss out on HIM.


"Christianity is a statement, which if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." C.S. Lewis God calls us to follow him completely. In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will  be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness." In some versions, vs. 22 says, If your eyes are healthy or single... So good=healthy=single. Single vision means that our eyes our only focused on one thing. Spiritual things. Heaven. Therefore, if your eyes are bad, or maybe we could think if our eyes are "double", one eye is focused on Spiritual things while one eye is focused on material things. EVEN THEN, we are filled with darkness. Even with our one eye on Heaven, our whole body is FILLED WITH DARKNESS*. That is so powerful. We cannot serve two masters. Either God is first, or He isn't. 

*Taken from sermon notes at Fellowship Bible Church of NWA, Mosaic Congregation presented June 1, 2013, by Mark Shatzman

But part of trusting this God and part of obeying Him is participating in his plan for our relationships. For married women, running ahead of our husbands shows them we don’t need them, shows them they can’t lead us, that we are faster, deeper, and love God more. If you are married, know that making our husbands feel inferior is not God’s will. If your loved ones are not there, LOVE them and WAIT on God. Putting God FIRST means replacing something else that was first in your life. Maybe that something was a spouse or another loved one. Putting God first doesn't mean throwing that person away...it means loving them more, loving them like God loves you. When God is first, we can love deeper and trust stronger. When God is first, we imitate His love to us in how we then love others. 

Joe and I have begun having the conversations about what our life might look like now. We have begun to pray for our "anything" out of the fact that God is first in each of our lives and in our marriage. We are open minded to where God might lead us and when He might lead us. Don't get me wrong. It is scary to think about the unknown....but when you think about it from the perspective that this life is short-term, and that we are here to serve a greater purpose, the unknown is so, so sweet. You might not be ready to pray for your "anything", but please pray for the Fugates as we pray for ours. 

Samantha