Funny enough, this ended up being the word of the week in our family devotions this week.
The Cambridge dictionary defines complacency as ‘a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents one from trying harder.’
We dream. We plan, but LIFE happens, and sometimes we become complacent. We want to go further but we get extremely comfortable and unbothered by our current state. Correction: I GET VERY COMFORTABLE WITH MY NORMAL. I know what to expect, I know my routine, and I can look forward to no unexpected surprises. And although I want to move forward, stepping outside my comfort zone, the thought of giving even more of myself to another cause or project seems daunting. So I settle! I settle to be satisfied with what is. But I’m sure that’s only me!
Complacency is NOT contentment. Contentment comes from a place of gratitude and appreciation, whereas complacency comes from a place of unfulfillment but, no effort or motivation to change your circumstances.
When we become complacent in our thinking, we adopt the attitude that ‘God gave me the dream so HE will work out my future without me having to lift a finger or an eyebrow.’ We expect God to be like the ‘fairy Godfather’ who waves HIS magic wand when we’re ready and ‘‘Abracadabra’’- dream accomplished!
It is true to believe that God will bring our dreams to fruition at the right time. I have no doubt about this, but I’ve also learned that an obedient heart is the fuel we need to start our goal -directed journeys. We have our part to play as well. God requires our obedience to follow HIS direction that will ultimately lead us to our success. Our part in this journey, is to seek God daily, seek HIS will and what HE wants from us so that we can follow HIS will to accomplishing those dreams.
A complacent attitude forces us to remain in a lazy state and expect God to chauffeur us first class to the door of our dreams.
Matthew 6:33 says ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’- A clear reminder to us that after seeking GOD, all the wonderful things HE promised is ours.
I confess that sometimes I don’t feel the motivation at all and when we lack the motivation to make a change, we sit on it, we procrastinate, we push it towards the corner, and we leave it there so long that we begin to lose interest. We lose interest not because there is no longer a desire to change but because our desire is being overcome with doubt. To me, it’s a chain that wraps around us and binds us tightly, keeping us from reaching our dreams; it starts with doubt and ends with doubt. We need to replace the chain link of doubt with the promises of God.
Complacency makes us doubtful and makes us forget WHO is in control.
We sometimes experience ‘spiritual complacency’ in pursuing our dreams. I call this a lack of desire to pursue God and the things of God, i.e., right living, holiness, and obedience to HIS word. We look for all the worldly ways to make things happen for us, forgetting that God wrote the blueprints and it’s His son Jesus, who started the work in us.
I find that when things start to go ‘my way’, I start to deceptively feel like the amazing choices I made opened the door to my dreams. To put it simply, I must admit, I get ‘’caught up in myself’ and I’m sure that this doesn’t just happen to me. We all, at times, fail to acknowledge the hand of God in our lives, working, on our behalf, to bring our dreams to fruition. We take the credit and momentarily forget to offer praise and appreciation to the ONE who holds the key.
Every time I begin to feel lazy and disinterested, I think back to that guy in Matthew 25, that Jesus told us about. You know who I’m talking about; the one who received one talent. I feel this guy felt it too much effort and trouble to think up some way to invest ‘’one measly talent’’. I mean he was thinking how much return one talent can bring me. It will cost me more to try and turn that over. HE probably thought, it’s not worth all the trouble. So, he just satisfied himself with his ‘one’. That is the difference when GOD is the talent – giver. It will always be worth it! God has promised to give us abundantly more if we are faithful with what he has given us already.
Matthew 25:29
‘‘For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.’’ I encourage you to not sit back and let complacency steal what GOD has written into your future. Don’t ever doubt God, because HE wants it for you, but He wants you to want it for yourself as well.
This was such an eye- opening series for me and I really enjoyed sharing what God had placed in my heart with you. As always, I’m here to learn and If you’re here with me, it tells me you’re learning and growing along with me.
Thanks for being here with me .
Keep Dreaming! Keep Growing!
Niclair x
Purpose Driven Mama 