Saturday, March 23, 2013

PITCHFORK

We've all faced the personal consequences of saying, 'I'll be autonomous.  I'll be unaccountable.  I'll do whatever I want to do.'

And because of that, the enemy is right outside your walls - just about to break through - you can see the tips of his pitchfork entering the house - and you're not quite sure what to do.

The desire to be king is inside all of us.  We know best.  It's our way or the highway.  We have this.  But we don't have it, do we?

We're just not completely sure we're ready to throw out the white flag and surrender.  Not just yet.  We're not sure we want to say 'YES' to God.  Maybe tomorrow.  We still think it's better if we remain autonomous and unaccountable and independent.  We'll hold out one more day and see what happens.

'When your life gets out of control and ... you can't possibly manage, know that God isn't trying to harm you - He's trying to reclaim you.'

And I get it.  I do.  If we surrender, it seems like we're giving up so much of ourselves - our lives - our preferences - our wants - our dreams.  But that's because we haven't understood how very good God is.

Because when it feels God is coming after you -- He isn't doing that because He's angry with you.  He isn't your enemy.  He loves you.  He's trying to win you back, not hurt you.

So when your life gets out of control and you're suddenly faced with consequences you can't possibly manage, know that God isn't trying to harm you - He's trying to reclaim you.

And be blessed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good sermon tonight! It felt so good to be back at church. I have thrown up my white flag recently and gave up a very bad habit. The really good thing is I don't miss it. Maybe God has delivered me...I hope so.

I want to start doing the right thing now. Going to church,praying consistently and just be a all around better person. I definitely feel a lot more motivated to do things. At least for now I think I am about to go on the right track. So, my white flag is up.

Anonymous said...

PK, I am reading a book right now called "He Loves Me". It is about God's unconditional love for us. He speaks of the ways we think we can earn His love. If we do this He will love us more, if we do that then we will be in His favor.

I admit, I am most certainly one of those people. If I can just be good enough maybe I won't go to hell. The book speaks of how He doesn't want us to come to Him in fear, but in love for Him...how He really wants a relationship with us, not just blind obedience.

Of course the story of the Prodigal Son is in the book. How it doesn't matter what we have done, He still loves us the way the father in the story did. It's hard to let go of wanting to please Him, not out of great love, but of thinking He will punish me if I don't behave the way He wants me to.

I think this is very relevant to your sermon. God is not punishing us, but wants to reclaim us. I have heard three different messages along these lines very recently. Maybe God is trying to tell me He loves me and will be most happy if I come back to Him. It won't be easy to shift my thinking, but it sure is nice to hear it in a meaningful way.