After months of not writing short posts like this, I’m finally sitting down and channeling all my focus to this post.
Finally.
Not that I’d ever run away from writing, since it’s probably the only thing I think I’m good at. I always want to write, but when inspiration comes, I do nothing about it. I just feel the excitement of ideas coming to mind, and then keep those ideas right where they are.
It reminds me of how our relationship with God can be sometimes.
I subscribed to Pastor Rick Warren’s Daily Hope devotional right after I read his book The Purpose-Driven Life. I desperately wanted to read something from him, and I also wanted to have a devotional I could read every day. I got both.
This past week when the devotional for the day came in, I opened it as fast as I could because the title said ‘Jesus comes to you’.
Jesus comes to me? How? I’m the one who goes to Him all the time.
So much so that sometimes I feel like when I call, He thinks to Himself, “This girl is here again”. He’ll look to my angel and say “Let’s hear what she has to say today”. But the confidence I have is that He has no problem with it. In fact, He would be the happiest if we had all day.
The truth is that Jesus does to come to us. Every time. He doesn’t go anywhere, He’s right there. And it’s a promise, because John 14: 18 says “When I go, you will not be left alone. I will come to you.”
That means right now, and right where you are, He’s there. It just depends on what you decide to do with His presence. Kind of like it depends on what I decide to do with the ideas swimming in my head at a particular point in time. And because He’s right there, there’s no stress!
Just speak to Him, and let Him do the rest.
God should be your driver, so let Him do the driving. Put Him in the front seat, and just stay still in the back, enjoy the ride — even with the bumps and all. Because again, your confidence is that with God in the front seat, you’re completely safe.
Reminds me of this song I learnt as a little girl in the children’s church. With Jesus in the boat, I can smile in the storm.
I always used to think it would be better if I did the driving, while God should stay in the back seat and help me only when it came to the bumps. You know, just a little direction here and there. But that was setting myself up for disaster because this meant I would totally disregard him while the road was smooth, only to go running back to him when I saw a bump — or what looked like a bump.
This came from a place of me always wanting to be in control, and I’ll confess, I still have the urge to be in control sometimes. I want to make sure I’ve got things covered. I want to be happy knowing I’ve dealt with an issue on my own. There’s just something about completely letting go I have a problem with. It’s a struggle I still need to work through.
But my life is not mine. Your life is not yours, and until you let that fully sink in, life itself will never make sense. Until you understand you can’t be in control and have all the answers, life just might not make sense to you. Because you didn’t create yourself. If you did, you might have the physical manual for when things go bad. But God created you and He knows even the smallest details (come on, the man knows the number of strands of hair on your head, you only have to respect that). He has the plan, and we know that this plan is good because Jeremiah 29: 11 assures us of that. It’s a promise, and we can find comfort in it.
I was under a teaching by my friend during the week, and he was speaking about the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to be a part of your life, but He is not intrusive. He will stay right where you put Him. We really are as close to God as we choose to be, and the most comforting thing is that He’s right there. So, talk to Him, and let Him be the one in control.
I’ve realized that I’m just me. Just a young lady who snorts when she laughs too much, has way too much compassion for people than she’d like to admit, and doesn’t know what she’s doing half the time. She doesn’t even know how to help herself sometimes, and becomes frantic when she gets overwhelmed, just because she’s finding it hard to be in control of situations.
But this is where I actively trust, and bring myself to the consciousness that I don’t have to be in control. Because there is already a person who is in control. And he’s right there.
