June 8, 2018
Sometimes, I don’t do the “God-thing” very well. Often times, I trust in myself before I put my trust in God. At times, I feel like I don’t need Him, so I prioritize other things/activities over time spent in prayer or reading the Bible. A lot of times, I lose touch of the wonder of God and His great love and instead start chasing worldly desires. It is so easy to go throughout my day and not say one prayer or have one conversation with God. I’m definitely not proud of it, but too often, I trust in myself and what the world promises. This mentality often leaves me feeling guilty for having neglected God and regretful for not having used the time to trust in Him and His will. We as humans can naturally be self-sufficient and go about our days by ourselves. This style of living has its sorrows and troubles, but it’s possible. However, when we turn to self-sufficient mannerisms and an wholly independent mentality, we prevent any chance of receiving God’s riches that Jesus offers so freely. We are often left empty, drained, and dried up because chasing worldly desires always takes from us and never fills us up. When we look for approval from our society, we will never be good enough. That’s just how it is. When we look to God for approval, He deems us justified, redeemed, beautiful, freed, accepted, righteous, and so many more promising characteristics. He throws away the dirty labels the world has put on us and instead crowns us with His glory. Now why does He do this? Simply, He loves us recklessly. He loves us unconditionally and even when we don’t love Him back. That is why no matter how long we stay away from God or how long we allow the labels of the world to discourage us or how long we choose to rely on ourselves instead of God, He still loves us. The word “still” is so important to that sentence because despite all of the stuff we do or allow to become our priority, He remains faithful to us. Not only does He just remain faithful, He blesses us “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ” (NET, Ephesians 1:3). I am not deserving of the riches of Jesus, and you are not deserving of these riches either. No one is. That simple fact is the foundation of Christianity. That while we were undesirable and deeply enslaved by sin, God sent His son Jesus to forever end our enslavement to evil when we place our trust in His strength and provision. And He will do this every day if He needs. We can mess up and lose faith, and He will remain eager to forgive. So when I go through periods of neglecting time with Him, I quickly realize that I miss out on so much of His blessing. God can’t work through me or bless me unless my heart is open to Him. But when I go into self-sufficiency mode and think that my works are enough, my heart closes to God’s works. I never want to miss His blessings. They are far greater and grander than anything I could plan out myself. His will for me is greater than my own, and His will for you is greater than your own. So, if you’ve never put your trust in God or you are going through a season where you have forgotten or neglected Him, it only takes a simple decision to give your trust to Him for the very first time or for the hundredth time. He’s ready to give us His riches even though we are so undeserving, so it’s time to make our hearts expectant of His glory in our lives and inclined to be faithful to Him. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (NIV, Jeremiah 17:7-8).
With love,
C