What do these figures have in common... Jesus, the apostles, Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, George Witfield, Oral Roberts, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, watchman nee, John Wimber, and more like them. If you said leaders of religious movements, you are not seeing the origin story. They are people that had faith that was not meant to conform and validate current religious structure but was courageous to speak what they believed and others followed.. all to benefit all of the various sects of church in one fashion or another over time. But, at the time, they were much like Plato's figure that broke from the chains to see what real life happened to be outside the shadows of comformity.
What do these figures have in common... Blaise Pascal, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Samuel Morse, Galileo Galilei, Tolkien, Emily Dickinson, Florence Nightingale, etc. They were believers in God but went on to do great things for people in other areas of need in the world.
What is my point in this? My point is that all of their faiths were very important, and none of them were meant to be just like everyone else or to express their faith in predetermined ways. I don't want to knock the value of having a place where you can comfortably commune with God, but that is not all there is to religion.. not by far. There have been so many times in my life when there was no church at my back and no organization there to comfort me, but that didn't stop GOD from being there to comfort and inspire and teach me in ways and lessons that most would not understand and in some cases accept. Religion is public and meant for a group. God is individual and wants to be there for YOU.
So, don't feel that you are not good enough to hear from Him. He literally took the blame so that He could listen to you and be there for you. Don't feel like you have to be accepted by a group, either. It isn't them that you need for peace, and feeling you are under a test definitely won't provide the bridge that HE desires, as well.
So, I will step on and step off this religious message that has been building for a bit and move on to other practical matters in future posts after I use this post to simply say this... you don't have to do it alone. Speak to the stars or your sketchbook or however you connect with the Divine. It will help heal you and lead you, if you take the time to rest and listen. That's all I have to say on it. Have a good week.
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