Ol' Jackson

I have recently been going through a book about Andrew Jackson. He is one of my favorite of Great Americans. I know he comes with a lot of baggage. But he also brings a lot of character and loyalty as well. Anyways, to continue on with my original thought, I wanted to mention a quote that was in the beginning of the book. It was giving background etc. about Jackson and where he came from and what he went through etc. He was the first "people's" president being raised in poor conditions by Irish immigrants. (most of his childhood, he raised himself. Father died when he was young and mother was a maid to a family of their relatives, so they would have a place to live) Anyways, the quote. The author was talking about Jackson's nature and character. He was a super ambitious guy, who went after what he believed in with all he had to give. Andrew's will trumped all for the most part, except one. He had a very passionate relationship with God. It said, "God's was the only will Jackson ever bowed to, and he did not even do that without a fight." This spoke some very potent truth to me. After reading this I thought about myself and many of my friends whom I would link to this quote as well. But as for myself, I thought about all the times that I have fought God tooth and nail. Pushed my will where it did not belong, took my desires over those of others, chose paths that I considered best and figured God's will would catch up or drag me back. It is interesting to be such a stubborn individual, or for that matter on a larger level, such a stubborn culture. We are so resistant to the idea that our wills could be trumped, that our desires and what we think is best could be in fact just a purely self focused initiative that holds us back from what truly could be waiting. Now, I know that at this point many of you could be thinking, blahh alahbla God blah ablah just another moment where someone tells me to listen to God and life will be perfect. Nope, not at all. But I think when we give in to ourselves, we find out what truth can look like. When we "die" to ourselves, our own desires and wants, we are forced to let things come into focus that are scattered along the horizon and not just a few feet from our face. I think that is the moment where God's will is dying to let us see what we resist to let come into focus.


"When you are uncomfortable, you are growing"