Going RIGHT With God
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
by Alexandra Copeland
I listened to a colleague of
mine the other day as he shared how his fear had kept him
from carrying out the call of the Lord in his younger days.
He said that he heard the voice of the Lord telling him that
he had work to do, but he couldn’t imagine a life of
ministry for himself. He wanted to have fun and do all the
things that young men in the prime of life do. He hadn’t
wanted to be a public speaker and never considered for one
moment that he would be any good at it. As a matter fact, he
was incredibly shy and didn’t like being around a lot of
people. The thing that scared him most about growing closer
to God was all the things he thought he would have to give
up in order to be a Christian. He didn’t want anyone telling
him what he could and could not do; besides that, the
spiritual stuff had really spooked him. So for many years he
ran from God and did everything he could think of to
disqualify himself from the call, but the thing is, he said,
none of the things he did made him happy. He was miserable,
and one day figured that there was so much more to life than
what he had experienced.
He turned to God, but did so
reluctantly, almost as if to test the Father to see if He
was real and to see if he had really heard His voice years
before. My colleague increased his prayer life and began to
let the Lord into his heart, but still he lived on the
periphery of faith, never quite making a full leap. This is
where many people find themselves today. They see the things
that are happening in the world and can sense that the
prophecies of God’s Word are coming to fruition with each
passing moment, but they still want to keep one foot in the
door and the other outside of it. What makes a person do
this? What makes them cling to their old ways when it is so
evident that it’s not working for them? Why is it that
people feel an allegiance to a life of sin or that they have
to commit a multitude of sins before they can live a life
committed to Christ?
Most of us, even after we
give our lives to Christ, grossly underestimate how much
fear we have when it comes to totally surrendering our lives
over to him. We want to keep the greatest portion of
everything we have to offer for ourselves. We think that God
won’t mind if we still do some of the things we used to do,
and keep some of those old selfish and corrupt attitudes and
behaviors; and people will give us permission to remain as
we’ve always been because it makes them feel comfortable
too. Take my buddy Sam for instance; he’s as ornery as they
come. People will often say,
“Oh, don’t mind Sam.
He’s just being Sam.” And this gives him permission to
continue dwelling in spiritual immaturity. He’s a Christian,
been one for many years, and the truth is that Sam is just
plain ol’ scared of change. It’s not that he’s
stuck in his ways like everyone says. Sam is afraid of
becoming a person that he no longer recognizes, but this is
exactly what God has in mind. Heavenly Father told us in
Romans 12:2 that we’re not supposed to be like the world. We
are to come out from among them and be transformed by the
renewing of our minds.
This isn’t to say that we are
to become anti-social or forsake our circle of friends, but
the truth is that everyone that is a part of our lives today
will not be able to go where the Lord is taking us. Some
things and some people will drop off and new things and new
people will be picked up. We can’t worry about the things
that fall away or drop to the ground. The Father will handle
that for us. Our responsibility and privilege is to continue
going higher in the Lord, so that we reach the place that He
desires us to be.
The quest for pleasure is a
pretty big motivation for most of the decisions and choices
we make on a day to day basis. We want to feel good and be
happy, and the enemy has tricked us into believing that this
can’t be found within the realm of Godliness. The truth is
that feeling good and happiness cannot be found OUTSIDE the
realm of Godliness. Heavenly Father doesn’t want to make our
pleasure any less. He wants to elevate us to a level that is
exponentially higher than our imaginations can take us. The
enemy is a master at stealing our focus so that we become so
consumed with outside stuff that we neglect the inside
stuff. And in case you didn’t know, the inside is where the
real treasure of our existence resides.
It took some time, but this
is a lesson my friend finally understood, but did so in his
later years. He said that he wished he hadn’t waited so long
to give himself totally to the Lord. The friendship he now
has with God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is beyond anything he could have
hoped for himself, and he has a joy that is beyond
comprehension. God knew that my friend would eventually make
it to the spiritual place he is today.
It’s the same for you and me.
Right this very moment, God knows the place that each of us
will end up; He knows our future, and He also knows our
capacity to change, grow, and increase in every way. The
Father has packed us with so much spiritual good stuff, that
even if we lived ten thousand years we wouldn’t scratch the
surface of our potential. That’s just the truth of it. He
has designed life in such a way that it cooperates
brilliantly with His plan, and HIS plan, as you well know,
includes every single detail of your life, from the rooter
to the tooter. The inherent code of your divine potential
and capacity is woven into the masterful cooperation of
everything that God has created. The spirit of God that
indwells you works through everything in your
environment—the air you breathe, the people you know and
love, and the situations of which you face. He works through
all of this to bring you to a
place of realizing your truest Christ-self. When you are
going left, life cannot help but remind you that God wants
you to go right.
Going RIGHT is your destiny,
and no matter how much you fight against this, life will
continue to cycle back lessons that are designed to place
you back on the path of God’s love, because that is where
you belong. Your blessings are on this path. Your future
spouse is on this path. Your spiritual increase is on this
path, and so is financial abundance and physical healing. So
when you live below par or beneath your privilege and
potential, life will remind you that you’ve got some place
to be. And sometimes those reminders are far less than
gentle.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
says, “Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has
passed away; behold, the new has come.” Our
newness in Christ isn’t a mythical fairytale. It’s our
truth!!! We ought not be so concerned about losing the
lesser things, because what we stand to gain in Christ is
far more greater than anything we might lose. Yes, there are
periods of discomfort as we transform and transition into
our highest selves in Christ, but growing pains are a part
of life. They remind us that we’re alive and that we’re in
route to a brighter day.
If you’re dealing with
something that you’re afraid to give up, or hanging on to a
toxic relationship or habit that continues to drag you down,
you need to know that you cannot reach the place that you’re
destined to reach by continuing to hang on to that stuff.
Your arms are already full, and your only choice is to
release the things that are holding you back, so that you
can acquire what God has for you. The enemy has hoodwinked
some of us into believing that God’s goodness is no match
for the devil’s worldly tricks, but this is a lie from the
pit of hell. Nothing compares to God’s goodness—absolutely
nothing, and He’s waiting for you to allow Him to show you
this. ■
Scripture quotations are from the
Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007
by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
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.
Scripture taken from the New King
James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message.
Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by
permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
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