Welcome to “Sunday Inspiration,” a bi-weekly devotional for those seeking spiritual encouragement in the pursuit of their passions. Each post comes from an outside resource (as referenced). I hope these posts will inspire and motivate you in your life and career in addition to our weekly original blog posts. Enjoy!
by Matthew Kelly
Do you like your life? It’s one of those sort of basic questions we don’t really think about that often. It’s an easy question never to think about. Very often I think we’re sort of just sleepwalking through life. We’re not aware of the incredible people, experiences, opportunities that we’re constantly facing, one after another.
One of the things the Gospel does is, it’s constantly waking us up. Constantly trying to wake us up, constantly trying to put things in perspective. And as we awaken, we become more and more grateful. And one of the ways to measure how awake we are is, how grateful are we? Because when we’re aware, when we’re awake, we tend to be more grateful. But the question “Do you like your life?” is one worth thinking about, because it does wake us up. It does heighten our awareness pretty quickly.
If you don’t like your life, what don’t you like about it? And what are you gonna do about it? And can you do it on your own, or do you need the help of other people in your community? Can you do it on your own, or do you need the help, cooperation, collaboration of people in your family?
And can you do it on your own? The answer, of course, is no, because all is grace. Everything comes down to grace. And so we can’t do it on our own because we need God. We might need other people in our community, we might need other people in our family, but we definitely need God. We need God’s grace. We need God’s fuel. We need God’s cooperation, collaboration, direction, coaching, encouragement. We need God.
So, do you like your life? If you don’t like your life, what are you going to do about it? Jesus said, “I’ve come so you might have life to the fullest.” He wants you to have that kind of life. If you don’t have that kind of life, it’s time to sit down with Jesus and have a chat.
by Lauren Fedders
Before [my current job], I worked for a publicly traded company with a popular brand and product. I worked really hard at that job, and I loved the people there, so when there were rumors there might be layoffs in my department, I was really worried. When I did get laid off, I was surprised to find that I wasn’t disappointed, heartbroken, or panicked like I really thought I would feel. In fact, I left feeling pretty excited and energized.
If getting laid off from your job and feeling relieved about that, or excited about that, isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t really know what is. I took time to reflect and I came to realize that, at that job, I was just going through the motions and I was sleepwalking through my day, my week, and my year. I took time to travel, and to pray, and I was really intentional about where I decided to work next.
My wake-up call led me to a career that challenges me and allows me to work for a place where I’m truly passionate about what I’m doing. So, when have you had a wake-up call on your life?
Source: Best Lent Ever, A Wake-Up Call
