YOLO

A phrase that I have heard a lot in my life is "While you are waiting on the Lord to open a door, praise him in the hallway!" I hate that phrase. so. much. Why? Because the hallway just feels like such a dumb place. Especially when there are so many doors all over! It just felt kind of mean, that God would shut all the doors and make me wait for an indefinite period of time in a hallway where I could do nothing. Wasn't I supposed to be using my time to make a difference? The hallway is so stinking boring. No way do I want to be stuck there. 

Now, to those of you who feel like I am over-reacting to a phrase that is so commonly used to "console" those who are stuck in the crossroads parts of life. Hear me out. I'm all about waiting on the Lord, but I am not all about the passive letting life just happen to you-while stating that this passivity is all about being a holy waiter on the Lord. You get me?

Discernment and waiting on the Lord is an ACTIVE process. Too often I think we allow the uncertainty of the Lord's will to become a free pass to being a passive disciple. Major Cop Out people. Now I know that a lot of people hate the phrase YOLO; but I LOVE IT. Why? Not because I think that since we should all live for pleasure, but because this life is our chance to be a light to the world and we should live every moment actively for the love of God. Imagine a world where every Catholic and Christian did not limit themselves to the hallways of life and ran through the doors-living lives without limits? Whoa. What a world that would be! Sometimes, I think we allow ourselves to become induced into an emotional coma when we are waiting for the Lord to reveal the next step. We are afraid of the desires on our hearts. We are afraid of living radical lives for Christ, so we remain in the hallway. 

 I used to live in the hallway of fear and indecision. I was quite comfortable there. Then I went on NET for two years and the Lord rocked my fearful, limited life in the hallway and dared me to open doors. It was petrifying because I actually had to take control over my life and act with parousia (holy boldness). I had to trust that the Lord would be with me outside of the comfort zone of my hallway. I had to learn how to live with my heart and not be afraid of what doors the Lord would ask me to walk through. Because of my yes, the Lord did radical things in and through me. I had to do things I was scared of, and trust people I barely knew. All for the sake of the Gospel. Like St. Peter, I had to step out of the boat and walk on the storming waters.
But here's the thing about walking on storming waters: You have got to focus on Jesus otherwise....

You will sink. 

YOLO. You only live once. This life is the one chance you get to live a radical life for Christ. Don't waste your life in the hallway of indecision and fear. Open doors! Walk on stormy seas. STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE! Do not doubt Christ. He will guide you through the doors and guide you out of the ones that you are not meant to go through. It's a scary adventure. But adventure is not about playing it safe. Adventure is all about facing your fears and fighting for the good. So I encourage you to fight for your dreams! Face your fears. You only have this life to fight for the Lord who fights for you constantly. So fight for him and open those doors. But, don't just open them, step out in faith. Do not live in fear and indecision. Make bold choices. Go forth and spread the Good News. You will never regret it. But, you will regret just standing in the hallway.