The Effect of Your Converting Me to Yourself

One of my favorite parts of UVa is our Religious Studies department. Not to brag or anything, but I've heard that it's one of the best in the world. With each Religious Studies course I take, I get a better idea of why that's the case. This semester, I am in a class called Elements of Christian Thought. It's way hard but I love it so much because it challenges me not only when it comes to the work load but also when it comes to my own personal beliefs. I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was seven, so there are many things that I just took to be true and never really thought about. Prime example=the Trinity. I always just thought about God as trinity and never really went beyond that, but some of the lectures have completely blown my mind and now I'm actually being forced to think about why I believe what I believe. It's a really cool process and has enriched my faith in big ways (however, it has not enriched my GPA. Sad). One of my favorite readings thus far is Saint Augustine's Confessions. It's crammed full of so many great words, but one of the best lines to me (right now) reads, "the effect of your converting me to yourself" (p 153). While my life is a continuous process of God shaping me for His use and "converting me" to Himself, there are times in which I can "feel" those effects more than others. Right now happens to be one of those times. I can pinpoint areas where God is tugging at my heart and, in the words of Augustine, "stirring [me] to take pleasure in praising [Him], because [He] has made us for [Himself], and [my] heart is restless until it rests in [Him]." God is creating desires in my heart and changing the way I think about several aspects of my life. And while it is very difficult to unclench my fists and let go of the old, I know that my empty hands will soon hold the richest of blessings. Because that's just how God works, ya know?

Have you been feeling any effects of God converting you to Himself recently? Is God calling you to let go of something and wait for Him to bless you in ways far beyond anything you could imagine?