What is the cost to follow Jesus? The cost is everything. I don’t know what that looks like in your life, but I know what it looks like in mine. The cost seems heavy sometimes. The cost seems unbearable sometimes. It is heavy and often times unbearable, especially when I take my eyes off of Jesus.
You see, while the cost is everything, the return is far greater than I could ever achieve on my own. This God I serve doesn’t merely give me a little bit of joy or a little bit of peace or a little bit of provision. He gives me HIMSELF. He gives me all of Him.
This may be a new concept for you. It can seem odd. But it is indeed what delights the Father greatly…drawing near to us! He longs to be with us. While He doesn’t need us, He greatly desires us.
Ok. So maybe you’re saying, “Yeah, but what does that have to do with my life?” Maybe you’re frustrated you need a father for your kids. Maybe you need groceries on the table. Maybe you need community in which to do life with. Maybe you need a minute for yourself.
God has it all. I have spent the last year and a half jobless. Not because I didn’t want one or didn’t try to get one but because I felt like God said stop. Stop trying. He invited me into this place where He wanted to provide in such a way that I can’t help but say that it was Him all along.
But what that means sometimes is that it doesn’t look like I wanted it to look. I applied for job after job. I had interviews where I crushed it and just knew I had the job…then no one ever called. I was forced to move out of the city and in with a couple from church. They let me rest. They let me take a minute and hear God.
Provision didn’t look like money flowing in. It didn’t look like a job. I didn’t look like community. Provision looked like a restful place to connect with the only One who had the right answers, God. Provision looked like removing people in my life so that He could teach me to be satisfied with Him alone. Provision looked like sitting in my new church home’s staff meeting just to listen, nothing being required.
Maybe that doesn’t sound like much but it was a game changer.
You see, I think the problem ultimately boils down to one thing. We run to God for an answer. We just need this one thing. Can you help? And when we think He doesn’t show up, we grow a little disappointed. We let bitterness take root. But friends, He doesn’t want us to go to Him just for an answer. He wants us to go to Him for Himself. For a relationship.
Take some time. Take some time to stop going to Him for answers, not because He doesn’t want to give them but because they come out of a relationship with Him. I believe this is the principle Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.”
If you don’t know how to do that or feel like you have hit a wall, let’s talk! My favorite thing is connecting people with the Father! I don’t have all the answers, but I sure know the One who does! Let Him come into your heart and your life in a way you never thought was possible!
About Kimberly Mccauley
Kimberly McCauley grew up in Tampa, Florida but found her way to Oklahoma City in 2010 after a couple of stops along the way. She loves adventure, reading and connecting people to the heart of the Father. She is a skilled teacher, speaker, and is currently working on her first book about doing life with God. Kimberly also recently started her own company. She owns and operates a home inspection business in the Oklahoma City Metro. She looks forward to seeing how God wants to use her and her business to impact the city! www.sweeterthingsfirst.com