Going through the motions

Do you ever find yourself spiritually just going through the
motions???

Went to church this week….check, read my bible today….check, said a few
prayers….check.

Me too. I think we all come to those points, at different times in our
spiritual walk, where we feel like we are just going through the
motions. The thing to remember most of all in these type of moments, is
to draw closer to God in all aspects of our lives, not push Him away.
Many times in hardships or trials we get a bit sanctimonious and think
we don't deserve something or ask "Why is this happening to me???"
simply because we feel we are doing all the right things (all the boxes
are checked).


But then the real question becomes are we in fact doing the right
things? God showed me an important passage on this topic over the last
couple of weeks:

Isaiah 58:2-9a

2 For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
    as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
    They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
    'and you have not seen it?
    Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?'
   "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
    You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for a man to humble himself?
    Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed 
    and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
    Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the LORD ?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
     to loose the chains of injustice
     and untie the cords of the yoke,
     to set the oppressed free
     and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
    when you see the naked, to clothe him,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
    then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I

So I am trying to get in the mind set of asking myself when I hit these
slumps – Am I truly doing all that God wants me to do? Are there areas
of my life that need work; are there people in my life that I am
overlooking; is there some need out there that God wants me to wake up
and see that I am currently oblivious to?

When I start asking these questions, it makes me dig deeper in the word,
pray harder, and focus more on God in every aspect of my life. It turns
the checkbox questionnaire into an essay exam, which is where I feel
personally, God wants our lives to be.

My prayer:
God please help us to see the areas in our lives in which we are
lacking. Helping us to not live complacent spiritual walks, but to turn
our focus outward in order to see those around us in need. Guide us in
being humble to your will and focused on living out the gospel in our
own lives. In Jesus name we pray – AMEN!