We’re in God’s Dressing Room

 

As believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are helped tremendously when we keep the reality of our identity always in the front of our minds. We are not here on this earth to do our own thing and to take life as it comes. Our lives have been predestined by God and we should be leaning on Him for instruction and guidance. Psalm 37:23(NLT) tells us, “The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Life is a very dynamic thing, and it can be filled with challenges and difficulties, but many of those can be avoided or handled masterfully when we allow God to direct our steps. If we don’t allow God to lead, guide, and direct our steps, that’s our choice, but it is a very costly one because we are choosing not to lead our lives with love.

God’s desire is that with each day of our lives, we grow and develop in His love more than we did the day before. Our destiny is to grow in Christ. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Every event, situation, condition, and circumstance we face provides an opportunity for us to become more like Jesus Christ. If we begin each day with this truth, we will see life very differently. Rather than seeing it as beating us down, we’ll see life for what it is, which is a gift from God to get closer to Him and become what He always intended us to be.

Leaving our comfort zone

The love of God in Christ is a reality that is larger than we can fathom. Contained within this love should be a passion about life, because Jesus Christ tells us in John 14:6 that he is the life! He tells us in John 10:10 that he came to the earth to make life more than abundant for us all. Christ should be our passion. He is passionate about us and desires us to live life to the fullest. This can only be done through him. Romans 13:14(NKJV) tells us, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” God tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to clothe ourselves in him, but again, this is our choice to make.

To put on Jesus Christ will require us to learn more about him. The more we know and trust in Christ, the more we grow in him. And the more we grow in Christ, the more life we will live. Life is liberty, love, and light. This is what more of Christ extends to us.

The issue is that, left to our own devices, most of us will not put on more of Christ because we don’t want to leave our comfort zones. We like what we know. We derive comfort in the familiar, even if the familiar is far from optimum. Most of us find a somewhat comfortable place in life, establish a routine, and then we campout there. Again, life in Christ is a very dynamic reality. Our destiny is to be ever growing and abounding in him. Transformation is the name of the game. This means we don’t get to campout in the comfort of who and where we are at the moment. We must recognize that the full measure of the standard of Christ is God’s goal for us. Ephesians 4:14-16(NLT) affirms, “14 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 15 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

What is the lesson?

By divine design, life is packed to the fullest, filled to the brim, and overflowing with experiences and events that challenge us to put on more of Christ. There can be no doubt in our minds that we are on this earth to learn the lessons of the love of Christ. So, the question we should be asking is “What is the lesson?” What are our challenges, obstacles, triumphs and successes teaching us about where we are in our walk with the Father? We’ve come so far, learned a lot already, but elevation and promotion in spiritual maturity seeks to take us higher in Him. The lesson will invariably show us what we’re clinging to, what we have to let go, and what more of Christ we need to put on in its place.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:38(NLT), “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.” Through his cross, the one he carried on his back up Golgotha’s Hill, and was then crucified on, Jesus Christ taught us a very foundational and poignant lesson. He demonstrated his commitment and willingness to give up everything for us. By this, we can see and know that the cross will require everything from us. Nothing can be held back from the cross we must pick up in order to follow Christ. This isn’t arduous, it’s destiny! It’s what we were created to do. Jesus Christ has already accomplished the hard work for us. Our responsibility is to live through him. He tells us in Matthew 11:29-30 to take his yoke and allow him to teach us, because he is humble and gentle at heart, and he will give us rest for our souls. He tells us that his yoke is easy, and the burden he gives us is light.

The burden the world gives us is extremely heavy. It does not give us life but takes it away from us, piece by piece, until nothing is left. This is what satan does through the systems of the world. But those who pick up their cross and follow Christ are not of the world. We are in it but not of it. And there are parts of the world’s mindset that we must release in order to become fully in Christ who we are meant to be.

It doesn’t hurt to see setback, missteps, and mishaps as wakeup calls. They are often alerting us to the reality that we’ve got some place to be, and it’s time for a wardrobe change. We need to put on more of Christ in some area of our lives, and we need to have a serious conversation with God about doing it. He directs our paths. Our steps are ordered according to His purpose for our lives. James 1:5(NIV) tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” We’re in God’s dressing room, and He is happy to give us the wisdom that will help us put on more of His love in Christ. All we need to do is ask.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“We’re In God’s Dressing Room”, written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.