Disturb Us, Lord
Complacency is the biggest threat to a successful Christian life.
Do you believe that? I think more Christians give in to complacency than outright rebellion and sin. It’s easy to just go with the flow, rise and fall with the tide, and get comfortable in your pew. It takes initiative, energy, creativity, and plain ol’ hard work to accomplish things for the kingdom of God.
And yet, complacency is equivalent to rebellion. How so? Because a complacent woman believes that she is in control of her own life. She has things just the way she wants them. Her children are well-behaved and at the top of the class academically. They perform well in sports and music. Her husband has a good job and is providing for the family. Her home is lovely and well-appointed. Her health care and exercise routine are top notch, and - well, not to brag - but she is quite slim and beautiful. And so, why would she need God? She has replaced God with herself. She is trusting in her own devices. She worships herself.
Isn’t it interesting that selfish ambition and complacency have the same root? Selfish ambition believes that “I” am worthy of attaining my own goals and receiving the praise for that. Complacency believes that “I” have accomplished all that “I” want, so “I” can take a break. Both are wrong because they are focused on self, rather than on God. Personally, complacency is a much bigger temptation than ambition.
Comfort is something I long for. My flesh craves routine and “normalcy” - whatever that is. I long to just sit and not move for days. To let my mind go numb and not have to think, or problem solve, or focus.
But nothing could be worse for me - physically or spiritually. And so, by God’s grace and by His Holy Spirit’s prompting, I wake up early. Sit down with my Bible for an hour. Pour out my heart in prayer. Beg Him to direct and guide me and our family. And, as much as I would like to stay in that quiet place for the rest of the day, I must get up. Get off the couch, get busy about my daily tasks, get involved in the lives of people, get dirty and messy and tired. And do it all again tomorrow.
Have you let complacency settle in your heart? I found this poem some years ago. In fact, I have used it on our family blog in the past. But it is so poignant and convicting, I decided to share it again. Read it slowly. Consider what habits, patterns, or beliefs are being challenged in your life. If needed, prayerfully ask the Lord to pull you out of your complacency and back into active service for Him and correct worship of Him. There are plenty of places to be serving - at home, in the work place, the school, the Church. May the Lord guide and help us all to be right in our relationship with Him.
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
-Sir Francis Drake, 1577