With just a flick of his tail he glides so effortlessly through the water! A huge carp lazily swims around in a pool on the edge of our town. He moves with such grace and ease as he weaves through the plants and among the swarm of other fish. He is clearly in his element, comfortable and confident.
As I watch I feel a tug from deep in my soul, a memory climbing toward my conciousness. The Spirit nudging me toward Him. "In Him we live and move and have our being." As I walk this earth I am in Him. I am right now surround by and lifted up by Him. He is genuinely present with me at all times. When I wave my hand through empty space, I am waving it through and in God. God is ever present and ever personal.
This God who is beyond my understanding, this God who created stars and galaxies, this God who penetrates every fibre of my being, every place in the universe and beyond, makes Himself personally available to me. He speaks to me. He works all things out for my good. He is working in and around me at all times, writing the story of my life, of all our lives.
I forget. I live as if I am on my own. I live as if it all depends on me, as if I am alone and vulnerable to the whims of impersonal fate or the chaos of human action. But this is unreality. The reality is that I am surrounded and cared for by the most powerful and loving Being in existence. He loves me and has demonstrated this love in sacrificial and enormously costly action. I know His love and care from history and from my own life. But still I forget.
I thrash around trying to stay afloat, afraid of drowning in the threatening world around me; when I could relax into His love. I could glide along in His Spirit in the beauty of this world and the knowledge of His care. The circumstances remain the same, but as I stand next to the pool my perception has subtly shifted and the peace that surpasses all understanding comes to me. I am aware of Him and it is good.
Showing posts with label forgetting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgetting. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Monday, September 14, 2009
It's all about me
It is funny how easy it is for me to slip into a narcissistic perspective. I all too easily become consumed with myself and lose my grasp on reality. The more I focus on my fears and failures, or even my victories and virtues, the more warped my perspective becomes.
The fact is that the story of my life is a small part of a much grander story. God is writing an epic story filled with love and hate, faithfulness and betrayal, a great adventure. I have a part in the story, as we all do, but when I start thinking that it's all about me, I have lost the plot. I make too much of myself. I make to much of my gifts, my reputation, my sin, my insignificance, and my importance. None of these things are the central truths of reality. God alone stands at the center. He is the hero of the story, not me. He has written me into the story and I am valuable because He made me and loves me, but that doesn't make the story about me.
As I wrote my last post, I was wallowing in self-pity. I was focusing only on myself and my experience. Then, a surprising thing happened. Someone reminded me that what I need to do is to make much of God, to focus on Him. I cannot worry about the critics or the price that I might pay for obedience. I must only draw near to God, and do what He would have me do. I wonder if great things are only possible when undertaken with self-forgetfulness? Great battles are not won without sacrifice and there will be scars to bear. If I trust that God really is working everything out for my good as well as the good of the Kingdom, then I can walk whatever path He lays before me.
I am so quick to forget! I need to be reminded of the gospel. I need to be reminded that it is all about God. I need to be reminded that while I am a unique and valued child of the King, I am only one of many valued children. He has a role for me to play, a part for me to fulfill, work for me to do. I must do my part for the Kingdom to advance and for the King to get the glory that is due to His Name. He'll take care of the rest, and as I lose myself in Him and the work He has for me to do, I become who I was created to be.
The fact is that the story of my life is a small part of a much grander story. God is writing an epic story filled with love and hate, faithfulness and betrayal, a great adventure. I have a part in the story, as we all do, but when I start thinking that it's all about me, I have lost the plot. I make too much of myself. I make to much of my gifts, my reputation, my sin, my insignificance, and my importance. None of these things are the central truths of reality. God alone stands at the center. He is the hero of the story, not me. He has written me into the story and I am valuable because He made me and loves me, but that doesn't make the story about me.
As I wrote my last post, I was wallowing in self-pity. I was focusing only on myself and my experience. Then, a surprising thing happened. Someone reminded me that what I need to do is to make much of God, to focus on Him. I cannot worry about the critics or the price that I might pay for obedience. I must only draw near to God, and do what He would have me do. I wonder if great things are only possible when undertaken with self-forgetfulness? Great battles are not won without sacrifice and there will be scars to bear. If I trust that God really is working everything out for my good as well as the good of the Kingdom, then I can walk whatever path He lays before me.
I am so quick to forget! I need to be reminded of the gospel. I need to be reminded that it is all about God. I need to be reminded that while I am a unique and valued child of the King, I am only one of many valued children. He has a role for me to play, a part for me to fulfill, work for me to do. I must do my part for the Kingdom to advance and for the King to get the glory that is due to His Name. He'll take care of the rest, and as I lose myself in Him and the work He has for me to do, I become who I was created to be.
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