good stuff

I love Donald Miller - the way he writes and what he writes about. I feel as though he is talking to me, writing as if we were sitting together and having a conversation. It makes his books more enjoyable and easier to understand, for me at least. I read Blue Like Jazz years ago and LOVED it. I knew there were mixed reactions about the book, but I was quickly engrossed and eager to read more of Miller's books. I've been wanting to read that book again, but instead picked up Searching for God Knows What. I've only read the first chapter of this book and already know that it will live up to the expectations I had of Miller after reading his first book.

Miller talks of our desire for formulas...looking in the Bible for an equation telling us, "Do this and this, and you will get THIS." We do so out of a desire for control, rather than acknowledging that Christianity is based on a relationship with a Being who has a will of His own. Though having a dynamic relationship with God is something that is unique and exciting about the Christian faith, it is also something scary and unpredictable. Miller writes: "I have come to believe the sooner we find this truth beautiful, the sooner we will fall in love with a God who keeps shaking things up, keeps changing the path, keeps rocking the boat to test our faith in Him, teaching us to not rely on easy answers, bullet points, magic mantras, or genies in lamps, but rather His guidance, His existence, His mercy, and His love."

Whew, that was long-winded, but definitely a quote worth remembering. Having a relationship with our Creator is so much more meaningful and rewarding than God giving us a list of steps and procedures that must be fulfilled. The invitation of salvation through faith, that Christ offers, takes the burden off of us - the burden that Christ has already taken upon Himself. I am one who likes to be in control, but I find it a relief to know that God goes before me.

Before I peace out, I also wanted to say that I have a bad habit of replacing the Bible with books like these...books that I seem to find so much more interesting and thought-provoking and applicable. I want to find joy in reading the Bible and in prayer. Dang, I've already been found guilty of what Miller is writing about...trying to take the easy way out. It's so much easier to read about what others have been learning, rather than discovering, myself, the truths God wants me to hear! Sigh.

I need to start reading the Bible regularly again, and not just alongside these books, but prioritizing the Bible above these books...such an obvious and simple concept, but something I will have to be intentional about doing. I do highly, HIGHLY recommend Donald Miller's books, though! I'm excited to continue reading this book...a nice break from the tragic and emotional Jodi Picoult books I've been reading lately.