Realizations

Have you ever been sitting around and just had a realization about something that is going on in your life?

Some people call these epiphanies, but I call them potentially life changing realizations because I know that I have no control over where this realization is going to lead me. So basically, whenever I come to a drastic realization, I run with it.

This can sometimes be good and sometimes be bad, just as it can sometimes be a small change and it can sometimes be something huge.

An example of the small kind of realization occurred while I was at B-Dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings for you non-Chapel Hillers) and I got the Caribbean Jerk sauce and didn't like it. This realization had led to me not getting that sauce any more.

However, on a more serious side of realizations, I have had a few recently that have made me begin to question to direction that my life has been going. One of these is the realization that I have been avoiding coming to terms with the direction that my life is heading and have been trying to delude myself with thoughts of what I want to do.

This came to a T when I felt that I was being called to forgo my plans of going into the field of public relations and instead pursue serving God. I was at first hesitant because this realization would mean that I would have to abandon the plans that I had made in order to do what I didn't view as my direction for life.

And that was it... The moment when I realized that I was living my life not in the way that God had wanted it, but in the way that I wanted it. This moment was quite an event for me, as I realized that I had been living selfishly and had not paid attention to what God would have me do.

For me to live my live in such a way that would be truly pleasing and giving all glory and honor to God, I know that I have to be able to consciously make the decision to turn away from my selfish plans for life and instead trust fully and faithfully that God will not lead me astray.

As the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 11:29, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

It is realizations like that that change lives. Now you see why I say realization. An epiphany is something that comes to you spur of the moment, while a true realization requires reflection.