Today’s scripture: Isaiah 32:9-15 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Steve Adams):
“Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective. It has to be shattered before being realized.” Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian/American novelist made this insightful statement. Often we don’t realize we’ve been complacent until our illusion of non-complacency is shattered.
It’s just so easy to be lazy! We can subtly slip into inertia without even realizing it. So, I got to thinking…why are we spiritually complacent? The first reason, I think, is of lack of awareness. Some have never experienced how exciting and fulfilling God is, while others see it only for a while but then forget. If that’s the case for us, we may end up watching a mediocre TV show that we don’t really care about rather than using that time to learn about God and serve others. The second reason is fear. We’d actually like to do a good deed, but it seems difficult and we’re afraid of failing. Fear is the great inhibitor. It causes us to “freeze” in whole or in part. So, we slip into thinking we don’t care, but deep inside we actually do. Or we get lulled into procrastination.
What are some remedies? The first one that comes to mind may be surprising — gratitude. When we are deeply thankful, we are motivated to give back to God. We see God’s incomprehensible love and goodness toward us, and we are energized to act, even if it involves getting out of our comfort zone. Deep gratitude motivates and energizes! The second is love. Love shatters complacency! It makes us care and motivates us to take action to help. So what about complacency vs. contentment? Can contentment ever make me lazy? I hope not, and I think the key is to be rigorously honest with ourselves. That’s the only way we can make an accurate assessment of whether we are complacent or not. Like everything else in our relationship with God, honesty is required!
Thought for the Day: The more deeply I develop gratitude for God’s love, the more likely I am to escape complacency and burst forth into an action-oriented life.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.