Inspiration or Perspiration?

This day four years ago I proposed to June. When people ask me how I knew if she was the ONE, I honestly say, well I was just so certain she was the woman I was to marry.  Then I go on to tell them how I didn't get some overwhelming feeling or have certain people confirming my desire that she was the ONE. That is when they get frustrated with me as their confusion builds on whether they should marry the person they are dating! I think June knows this already, but I mulled over this decision for quite some time.  Mainly because I was waiting for divine inspiration to pop the question for me.

There have been moments along the way where I have tried to put life on hold. Not wanting to make a decision because things seemed so clearly uncertain. Like having children, or getting married, or choosing a career, or paying for bills life after college. It definitely causes irritation in the lives of those around me. So, I politely excuse myself by saying, “I am waiting for God’s hand to guide me.” It sounds so wise and mature! I am not going to do anything because I am waiting for inspiration from God. Maybe I am really hoping for God’s hand to give me a pat on the back because deep down I just lack the confidence or energy for the moment.

Does anyone else feel like we make faith complicated at times? Like life doesn’t have enough curve balls of its own. People, I am lumped into this group as well, get super weird when it comes to faith. Fanatics or athletes call it being superstitious. There are times when I feel like I make decisions based on the migrant patterns of certain birds. Not really, but that is what it feels like sometimes. The other day I was talking to this person who was explaining to me their relationship with God. They got talking about how they felt God telling them amidst the water boiling on the stove, the sun outside, and them cleaning the kitchen floor that they should go to church. That is hilarious just retelling it.


Obviously, I could never negate their experience, because I believe God does show up in the smallest details of our lives. Yet, sometimes I feel like I/we react like Peter did when Christ completely explained who He was to those guys on the mountaintop. Somehow we want to freeze our moments of inspiration. I know I have a tendency to this. I just don’t want to forget the moment. Not because I don’t want to forget why it happened, but more so because I don’t want to forget how it happened. Our minds have the habit of thinking formulaically. So I start thinking well last time 1+1 = God, so if I do that same thing this time it should = God. But that really isn’t faith at all. A lot of the time we are not quite certain what we hope for or expect from certain moments in life, or from God for that matter. So we put life on hold, as we wait for the cosmos to align.


That is, however, the clearest definition we have of faith in the bible. If I were to be honest with God about my heart, in front of you, this is how it would sound…there are things about this life that I just don’t want to do God. Especially those times when all the visible signs give me an excuse not to do something. Then there are times when I am afraid to step up and do something because I don’t want to mess up. Most of the time though, I don’t want to do something because I don’t know if your there, and I don’t want to do this alone.


Recently, the thing that usually pushes me forward when I don’t feel God’s inspiration is I am certain He created us to lead lives of greatness. The reason I am convinced of this is because nothing He has ever created was less than great. I heard a person say once that great people do great things even when they don’t feel like doing it. I am realizing that faith needs as much perspiration as it does inspiration. I am not saying it is like 50/50 or even 29/71. I am just saying that God made us human. After that he charged us to lead lives of greatness. To walk, work, and live by faith, not by sight. Basically, go work up a good lather and be an inspiration.