Dear Christian,
I know you are stressed out and I know you are tired. So I want to share with you a truth that is revealed so many times throughout the Bible: God is in control. In Matthew 8, Jesus heals people, he calms the storm, and he drives out demons, and yet, people refuse to give him control over their lives. So let me ask you, what is your response to Jesus? Do you live in total submission to the authority of Jesus over everything? Or do you keep him at arm's length in case you need him? We often trick ourselves into thinking that we can fix our mistakes on our own.
Because of our sinful nature, we want to be part of our own solution. We want to be obedient and we think we can do it on our own. We want to be seen as good, helping people and doing good things. We want to be seen as not totally bad, going to church on Sundays and reading our Bibles on occasion. We want to be seen as upright or righteous because we chose to be Christians all on our own.
We don't understand our own sinful nature, nor our pride in thinking we don't have one, nor our ignorance of our pride in thinking that. Are we willing to give up our pride and our own self-righteousness for the kingdom of God? Fundamentally, we think our salvation depends on our own good works in conjunction with Jesus and his sacrifice. We think we have something of value to bring to the table in this equation. i.e. Jesus+My obedience+good works+trying really hard+praying when I think about it+reading my Bible+telling people I'm a Christian=saved. Guess what?!?!? We can do absolutely nothing to be loved by God. We have anxiety when we fail to reach the demand in Matthew 5:48 that says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Sorry to break it to you, but we will never be perfect like God on our own, or with any contribution to the perfection on our part. God is his portion of the equation AND our portion. It's like trying to mix white paint and adding a drop of black paint. . . it will never come out perfectly white.
There are so many things that lie to us:
Consumerism. If I am able to buy the right things, then I'll be happy. Well guess what? King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2 built houses, planted vineyards, made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees. He bought slaves, male and female. He owned many herds and flocks, which were signs of great wealth. He amassed silver and gold. He had beautiful singers and many women. He denied himself nothing, refused his heart no pleasure, delighted in all his work, and in surveying it all, decided that, "everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Perfectionism- If I am able to do the right thing, be perfect enough, be lovable enough, get good enough grades, be attractive enough, be fit enough, be strong enough, be independent enough, be wealthy enough, be ___ enough, then I will be... worthy? happy? of more value? What happens when you miss? What happens when you don't measure up? Do you trust Jesus enough? Do you trust him enough to give him all of your inadequacies and shortcomings, shine a spotlight on your mistakes and faults, and expose all of your guilt and shame in order to be real and admit that we need someone outside of ourselves to rescue us. One who will bear our punishment and absorb God's wrath. Not only will Jesus do that, but he will raise us up and make us righteous and blameless before God.
We receive God's everlasting love and grace. We don't earn it, we don't beg for it, we can't work for it, we receive it. We deceive ourselves when we think that we can bring something to the table that is worth anything. Our salvation is found in Christ alone and none of it is in ourselves. He chose you. He loved you first. He knows you, all of you. Psalm 103:14 "For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust." God knows that we are nothing and he still sent his only son to die for us. Matt 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." We must die to ourselves to find the glorious righteousness that Jesus offers only in himself. He loved you as his child before he ever loved you as his worker. His voice can calm the wind and the waves. You can never run so far that he can't find you. Thank God for Jesus.
