Most people want to live their best life; they just don’t want to change anything to get there. (Honestly, I have an aversion to change.) But if we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got. Any-who…if change is out of the question for you, you might want to turn the page.
“Ignore it, and it will go away.” It’s our motto when we encounter repercussions we don’t want to face. Perhaps we’re doing something we know down deep in our souls is not right. It gnaws in our gut, yet we find a thousand reasons to make it make sense in our head. A great mentor, Chuck Colson, told me years ago, “We ALL have the infinite capacity to justify our actions.” (Guilty! A thousand times over, this is the reason for my messes!)
This sounds eerily like Israel’s response to the Prophet Jeremiah. God’s people had deafened themselves to God’s counsel because it was nothing they wanted to hear. They were bound and determined to do what they wanted, when they wanted, however they wanted to do it. In fact, the Scriptures say that God’s People were living so far from His ways that they behaved WORSE than the pagan nations who inhabited the land before God gave it to them. (2 Kings 21:9) Now that’s off the tracks!
Every time Jeremiah heard from God and tried to speak into their situation, His People kept finding individuals, supposedly speaking on God’s behalf, who would tell them just what they wanted to hear. (May I NEVER be that person!) These phony “prophets” predicted peace and prosperity completely contrary to Jeremiah’s legit warnings of real trouble ahead on their stubborn course.
But this is it, folks: denying the Truth never changes the Truth. If God says so, it IS so Every. Single. Time! His Way Works!
Our wrongdoing never goes away just because we deny its existence. It’s not God who needs to change; we do!
If we ever TRULY tasted the love of God, we would never hesitate to move where He leads, to live like He designed us to live. We would understand He desires our good more than we crave it for ourselves. He’s not waiting to see if we’ll mess up. He’s hovering close to help us move toward every good thing He plans for us.
People often talk about the wrath of God like He gets a belly full of our nonsense, then rushes out of the gate to squash us when He’s had enough. Where did we get this distorted thinking? The wrath of God is when our loving Father simply steps back. He takes His Hands off a thing because we’ve relentlessly insisted to do it our way. We don’t want or need His input. So, Abba gives us what we think we want until . . . we don’t! THAT’S the wrath of God!
Friends, wherever you are today, this doting Father hovers near. He longs to see your life thrive. It’s been His dream for you from the beginning. If you feel stuck or frustrated with your course, stop where you are. Don’t keep doing things your way. Try His! I know, I know. You hate losing control. (I GET IT!) But once you relinquish your illusion of autonomy, you realize you never really had control anyway. It was all fantasy. Resting in His embrace, following where He leads, aligning your life with His Word, Will, and Way…this is truly YOUR BEST LIFE! #tryit #yourbestlifeawaits
