Surrounded by a sea of chaos and choices, today's Christian is in a constant battle. There are two such battlefronts going on in our lives. The easiest to see is the external, but the hardest battle is the internal one we fight daily. There, inside of us, exists this desire to have it all together. There is a natural need to want to be in control of any situation that comes your way, but each time you try to take it into your own hands, everything falls apart.
Have you ever felt as if you were finally treading water, but then all of a sudden, another giant wave comes crashing down on top of you? This feeling is all too real for so many of us in our daily lives. We fight to stay afloat and then yet another wave takes us under. Why do we settle for such a vicious cycle? Why do we allow ourselves to barely tread water when we do not have to settle?
The moment we give over the controls to our lives, we get scared. Just like when Jesus walked on water and Peter got out to try. He had the faith for a moment. He stood on the water for a brief moment and Peter felt like he had it. The idea that he was actually standing was incredible, but the moment a gust of wind blew, Peter feared and sank!
This is me, daily. The Lord gives me the capability to things consistently in my life, and how many times do I fear the smallest things, such as a gust of wind, and allow them to keep me from fulfilling my potential?
There is a hope, though, and we are not left to figured it out all on our own!
The beauty of the Gospel we so faithfully believe in is the fact that it does not depend on us. The Gospel is not about what we should do or how many things we must do in order to gain the father's love. Just as my College Pastor says, "Jesus + nothing = The Gospel."
The hope of this Gospel is that the rest of eternity does not depend on us in any way, other than the idea that we must initially let Christ into our lives as our Lord and Savior. After that, there is nothing we could do to screw up our salvation. It does not hang on our good works or how frequently we read Scripture. However, this does not give us an excuse to not give our faith everything in us. This does not mean that we do not even try to read the Word daily and meditate on it. This just means that when we do fail, we can rest knowing that it is not all over. It is not the end of everything.
So, I confess that I do not have it all together, and I do not hold the keys to my own life, and that can terrify me. The truth I do confess is that I have a Savior who is far greater than I and who loves me more than I could ever fathom to love Him, but that is not gonna stop me from trying. I am going to keep swimming and keep fighting.
