During class one day, I asked, “So what do you need to do to feel good about you? To feel good about life?” There were many answers that were offered to these questions. Some of them sounded very biblical and right:
“I need to live in my place of purpose.”
“I need to recognize who God has called me to be and rest in that.”
“I need to press on to a place where I am more effective and accomplishing more.”
The problem with most of these answers is that they all focus on "someday." There is always something else out there that has to be achieved before there can be peace. That's the opposite of peace! Even “in Christ,” we tend not to rest in “today.”
Self-Sabotage: "Someday"
Most people try to rest by saying “someday.” “I will get better.” “I will grow.” On the one hand, we should desire to grow or get better. That is a good thing. Even so, the longing for growth can be self-sabotage when it becomes a level of agitation that blocks the very presence of God that would cause us to grow. Someday often steals from today what could have been. To be at peace, to be able to truly rest, it can't It has to be a “now” reality. True rest has to start with “today.”
It begins with “I am.” God sees your “I am.” He is at peace with your “I am.” He is able to deal with you right here, right now, even as you are. When we know that hanging out with God and obeying Him brings the needed change, we focus far less on making ourselves better. He is able to deal with your “I am” because He is a redeemer.
Too often, we separate God, the legal redeemer, from God, the actual redeemer. “Jesus died for me on the cross. He paid for my sin. I am free.” Meanwhile, the person is trapped in an unbelievable bondage to sin, but he is making little or no effort to get out of it because his sins have been paid for "legally." He is “going to heaven.”
This is not the will of God. God is not just a legal redeemer. Yes, He had to pay the price legally, or we could not approach the throne of grace boldly (Hebrews 4:16). But our God is a redeemer. Not just legally.
My hope is in Him, not in my efforts to get better. Every good and perfect gift is a transfer from His character to ours. And it is not an automatic download. Presence is immediate, but character change requires an ongoing response on our part. It requires that we say “yes” to God over a period of time.
When you truly know the redeeming God, there is rest. There is peace. I can truly rest in my “I am,” even though it has significant flaws. Stop living “someday” and live today in the Redeemer.
Walk away from self-sabotage and toward Heart Change:
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