Have you ever listened to a sermon and felt like the pastor was speaking directly to you? Have you ever felt like God was trying to tell you something? I had an experience just like that a couple of years ago when I listened to this sermon by Pastor Steve Smothermon of Legacy Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico on YouTube.
When Pastor Smothermon talked about his own life experiences about being unhappy with being a pastor in Roswell (NM) and complaining about it constantly I drew a parallel to my own life situation living here in Louisiana. Just like him I found myself complaining about life here in the Pelican State and desperately wanting to be somewhere else.
When I took a deeper look at it I discovered that my unhappiness wasn't routed in my dissatisfaction with my present local. Pastor Smothermon's life journey took him from being a UPS diver in Tulsa to Bible College, then to being a pastor in Roswell, to eventually being pastor at Legacy. He complained and wanted more at every stop.
Likewise my life journey went from Albuquerque where I was unhappy and wanted more, to California where I complained about the politics and cost of living to here in Louisiana where life simply isn't my cup of tea.
To paraphrase Pastor Smothermon - "The grass is always greener across the street, but when you get there you complain about having to mow it."
The truth is when you move from place to place you take you and your bad attitude with you. To put it more simply the problem isn't your location it's your mindset. I had to understand that if I indeed got my wish and my family and I moved to another state I would still be unhappy because I would find things to gripe about there too.
There is another level to this. It has to do with being grateful for what you have. Through my move from California to Louisiana the Lord has taught me that powerful lesson. I was in California with everything I could have wanted. Great weather, beautiful scenery and more fun places to visit than you can shake a stick at. I had all that but I was unhappy and more importantly I wasn't grateful for what I had.
How was it that Pastor Smothermon was able to move forward in life and eventually get what he wanted in a prospering mega church. At each point he had to stop complaining about his situation, submit himself to the will of God and do the best with what the Lord had given him. When he did these things God opened the door for him to move forward. What God taught Pastor Smothermon was that it was his mindset that was holding him back and preventing him from having joy in his life.
The message can change your life!
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