God is rattling my cage.

God is rattling my cage.  He's challenging my notion of how He works in my life, how He relates, how He leads. This shouldn't surprise me because I've been praying since last March that He would take me into a deeper relationship with Him, one less defined by daily responsibilities and more open to what His Spirit would do through my life.  This might seem odd to say as a pastor, but at least for me, I find I have a tendency to allow my daily responsibilities to become my routine.  Routine is not bad unless it keeps you from breaking your routine.  Then routine becomes predictable and the predictable can become a very safe cage in which to live;  a place where one doesn't take risks or bold steps of faith.  I think I've been living there for the past several months.  But God is rattling my cage.   I'm was at Borders with my daughter.  She brought a stack of books and informed me she planned to begin a bible study group with several friends from school.  She wanted to know which book I thought would be good.  Most of the books were written by C.S. Lewis.  In her arms she carried "The Weight of Glory", "Screwtape Letters", "The Great Divorce", and "Mere Christianity".  Then she showed me another book entitled "Wild Goose Chase."  Hmm.  I set that aside.  At first glance it looked like a novella.  I wasn't sure what to make of it.  I told her I thought "Mere Christianity" would be a good starting place.  As she pondered her choices I picked up "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson.  I read the jacket cover and the table of contents. (Isn't that what you do when you're scoping out a new book?)  Then I made the mistake of reading the first page, then the second and... well you get my drift.  I bought the book for myself.  As I read "circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure", God shook my heart.  Shake, rattle and roll.  That's my God.  He shakes my preconceived notions, rattles my cage and rolls me over with His humor and grace.  I may not have a velvet Elvis hanging on my wall but I'm definitely into the music.