From time to time our lives get insane with activity... stuff we can’t get out of, things we MUST do. Life rages around us and carries us along, driving us forward as if we’re a twig sucked into a class IV rapid. We feel the helplessness of being “caught” in something so enormous and so powerful that our only hope is to survive.
And then sometimes we find ourselves gently bobbing along in some back-water eddy, calm and serene... peaceful and restive. The ebb and flow of our lives can be crazy–unpredictable and sudden, full and empty... crazy!
How do we maintain any form of stability in the middle of our uncontrollable lives? Are we even supposed to?
Does our Christian faith provide us a way to live our lives without exhaustion? Do we have the option to live life only at peace and in contentment, or are we just as “out of control” as any other soul, swept along the powerful waves of life’s ocean?
Couple of thoughts...
Jesus didn’t avoid the ebb and flow of his life on earth... He rolled with them. In a storm or in moments of serenity, Jesus was completely aware and yet unaffected by his surroundings. From crossing a stormy sea fast asleep to walking directly into an upper room for his last supper, Jesus lived a life that never drifted away from his calling, from his purpose.
It gives us “hints” as to the reality Christian believers can walk in... believe in and overcome.
I say “hints” because the truth is... if we’re honest, we rarely feel like we’re living like Jesus did. Life seems to hit us hard and low, knocking the air out of us and then kicking us in the guts as we writhe in agony in the gutter, flattened from the latest tragic moment or personal betrayal we’ve encountered.
Jesus is supposed to be in us. He’s supposed to be God and able to deliver us from death, our souls from sin... and our hearts from despair.
But how?
Surrender... I believe is the “magic” ingredient so many of us miss or forget. We’re so caught up with “FIXING” our lives, or “FIXING” everyone else... we forget that God is GOD, we’re not. Our lives are going to ebb and flow, get crazy and calm down... the one thing that never changes is GOD.
Our faith in Christ anchors us to so much more than what we can handle or figure out. Our trust is deep and eternal, fixing us to the ONE person who ever lived out life the way we’re supposed to. With Love and Joy and Courage and purpose and eternal destiny. As a Christian we are able to tap into His strength and draw on that power during our darkest day or brightest dawn.
We’re not alone and we have a savior... not just a reprieve from death and hell and fear, but from a life of hopelessness and anger and frustration.
His presence frees us from living life at redline and provides us with the power of peace in any circumstance, a living source of love and patience and understanding.
That’s a powerful solution to a life that ebbs and flows beyond our control.
