It has been over a month since I wrote “The Core Needs of Mankind”. This post is a continuation, so if you need a refresher, go back and reread that post.
All of my needs are met in Christ.
Do I know this? Do I live as if this were true? Do I see it with my eyes? In answer to all of these questions, I would have to say, “Sometimes.” Thankfully, in the last couple of years, I am able to say, “More often than not.” And I have been rewarded for that faith. But it has been VERY difficult. I find it almost painful to trust God. And why is that? Because I have a head full of beliefs that scream the opposite:
Born in self-sufficiency. I want to be strong and capable!
I want to do things my way. I want to be able to control my life.
I often believe that the people around me are preventing me from being blessed, and I want to do something to change them.
I question God’s goodness.
I just want my problems fixed! When I see that my needs are not being met (in my timing), I think I have to help God out. I think I need to make my circumstances and environment look like God has met my needs. But therein lies the problem. I would like to share something with you:
Live for self to fulfill Self
Love self to find Self
Build self to be a Whole Self
Be Strong to Avoid Brokenness
Control life to have Peace
Give in order to Receive
But God says…
Die to self to Live
Lose to Find
Decrease to Increase
Surrender to be Free
Be Broken to be Whole
Be Empty to be Full
Be Weak to be Strong
Receive to Give
Wait to Have Victory
Work to Rest
Rest to Work
Doesn’t make much sense, does it? But it is Biblically accurate. Eventually, I would like to talk about each one of these points and share the verses that support them. But, you can see why 1 Corinthians 1:18 says:
As I was looking for words to accurately describe my feelings about what it is like to trust God, I found words like: preposterous, absurd, crazy, foolish, irrational, outrageous, unreasonable, impossible, and insane. Can you relate?
But that verse goes on to say:
I find myself frequently in situations that cause me to choose.
My way or God’s way?
What does the Bible ask me to do?
Let’s take a look at the story of Abraham and Sarah. It is an excellent example of God’s promises and the results of flesh. I will just be summarizing, so if you are not familiar with the story, you can read it in Genesis 15-21. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. God got Sarah’s hopes up. She believed the promise. Then she saw that it wasn’t happening. What did she do? She tried to make her circumstances look like God had met their needs. She chose her own understanding. She chose flesh. Ishmael was not the promised child. Flesh will never be the source of an answered prayer.
Flesh only causes pain and conflict. Sarah finally received the promised child when:
It’s not about the promise itself. It’s about our relationship with God. We must sacrifice what is earthly (our flesh patterns) in order to experience what is eternal (God’s Love which produces the beautiful fruit of the Spirit--Gal 5:22-23).
Prayer: Father, Thank you for the free gift of your Love.
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