Letting God Be The I Am

"God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I Am has sent me to you”‘” Exodus 3:14

    I am frustrated. I am exhausted. I am anxious. I am worried. I started my list of “I am’s” in prayer. The Lord cut me off, reminding me He is the I Am. He can’t be the “I Am” of my life while I am trying to be the “I Am”–seeking to control and do the things only He can control and do.

   It is hard to let go of our cares and worries, and challenging to let go of the difficulties and frustrations we have gotten into the habit of holding tightly on to. We don’t want to worry, or be frustrated, or be constantly angry over the hardships in our lives, but we are.

   We might even make up our mind not to be stressed or upset over the challenges that come our way, perhaps regain a moment of peace. But then we are overthrown by yet another problem that comes our way, as we take charge and try to fix whatever it is that troubles us.

   You have heard the saying: “Let Go And Let God.” It is true, but easier said than done. Yet if we could only develop the habit of trusting God as easily as we develop the habit of worrying, we would find our blood pressure lowering and our level of peace rising.

   There can only be one God in your life, one God in complete control of your life. The truth is that you have so little control anyway, you might as well let God have His throne chair back.

   God is the great I Am. There can be no other. Remember that the next time you begin telling God: “Lord, I am worried, I am fearful, I am struggling. . . ” Let God be the one and only God and Great I Am. Let Him have control of the many things troubling your heart.

   Prayer: Dear Lord, help us never to forget that You are I Am. You are the One who controls our lives. Amen.

Do We Have Holiness?

 “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” Romans 6:22

   I have long wrestled with how to live a holy life while in the throes of affliction. It has been hard to live a holy life as someone constantly suffering pain, frustration, and disappointment from illness. 

   Yet, if instead of our own efforts, we consider surrendering holiness to God, then holiness becomes possible for the Christian living with constant illness.

   Our illnesses rob us of pride, self-confidence, arrogance, willfulness, and everything else that gets in the way of surrender to God. We are left with weakness, humility, our many needs and the recognition of our insufficiency. This leads to a shorter path of submitting to God than the self-confident, healthy person might be faced with.

   Complete and utter surrender and submission to God: That is our path to holiness and fruitfulness in our walk with Christ. Many of us simply do not have the strength to mount an effort at holiness, much less live holy lives by our own ability. When we surrender to God, He can work through us, enable us, guide us into holy, productive Christian lives through His Spirit.

   Holiness is not about our abilities, but about surrendering ourselves to God. Once we surrender our problems, weaknesses, and illnesses over to God, we can be made not only holy, but useful to Him and His kingdom. Not by our works, but by His power and love working through us, affecting the lives of others through His Holy Spirit.

   Do not despair of being a fruitful Christian due to illness, indeed, it may be that your illness is the key to living a holy, fruitful life.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to live holy lives, completely submitting ourselves to You. Amen.

Be As Patient As A Fisherman

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4:19

    Fishermen use different lures, different rods and reels, and different weight lines for different size fish. But occasionally, a fisherman will hook a large fish on a line made for a much smaller fish. For instance, one might be using a light line for panfish, but find that they have instead hooked a twenty pound monster. When that happens, the fisherman must use great patience and very slowly bring the fish into the shore so they do not break the line and lose the fish.

    After an Evangelist preached at my Baptist Church I felt something tugging at my heartstrings. When the call came to come forth for salvation, as a young teenager I was shy and did not like to go in front of any group of people for anything. Yet like a fish on a light line, the Lord reeled me in ever so gently until I found myself beside the Evangelist giving my heart to Jesus.

    Patience is needed for many things in life. From witnessing to others about Christ, to enduring the hardship that comes into our lives, we need the patience of a fisherman.

    I must admit that patience is not my best virtue. I don’t like waiting for things, and having to be patient often feels more like punishment than a gift when necessary. Yet I have seen patience “pay off” when practiced. Just like the fisherman catching that big fish when willing to take their time bringing it to shore.

    When one is suffering and told to be patient, that can feel like a slap in the face. Yet, what else can we do? We need patience.

 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

    Almost every day of our lives we will need patience. It is tempting to get angry, frustrated, complain, and gripe when troubles come. Yet in those times we need patience most.

    Prayer: Dear Lord, give us patience in affliction, and all the other times we will need it. Thank You. Amen.