Trying to do life on my own

June 9, 2023

Maria Dependence, Isaiah 30, Psalm 46 , , , 4 Comments

Be still and know…… Psalm 46:10

Seeing the 18-week-old baby moving his fists and arms on the ultrasound screen thrilled me.  What a gift technology can be!

As a volunteer counselor at our local Christian pregnancy resource center, I’m privileged to be present when gals come in for a scan.  Afterwards, I spend some time with the mom to talk over her options. The father of the baby, if he comes to the appointment as well, meets separately for a while with my male counterpart.

As Christians, we are upfront about our hope they will parent. But we aren’t afraid to educate them about abortion, what it does to the baby as well as to them. We also offer on-site counsel about how adoption might work.

To the extent that they are willing to listen, we explain who Jesus is and why they should care.

The day after this week’s volunteer shift at the ‘preg center’, I was out back on the patio for my ‘morning meeting’ with the Lord.  Psalm 46:10 popped up in a cross reference.

What is it that God wants us to know that takes being still and releasing our grip? I sighed thinking about my futile and fruitless attempts to control circumstances around me so I’ll feel secure. 

Then I pictured a baby safe in a mother’s womb, receiving all he needs from the placenta via the umbilical cord. How ridiculous and fatal it would it be for the baby to disconnect from mom and try to do pre-natal life on his own?

Bingo! and back to Psalm 46:10. That’s at least one truth our Father wants us to know. He planned and created each one of us to be needy, even during the 40 weeks of our life within our moms. After a mother pushes her baby out through the birth canal, that child still depends 100 % on ‘life-support’ from his parents. 

Likewise, we Christians having been ‘born from above’ into God’s kingdom also require sustenance. But the spiritual kind.  Like the newborn, we can’t provide what we need to bloom and grow. Jesus painted a picture of just what kind of life support he has planned for us. As a branch ingrafted into Jesus, our Vine, we receive heavenly nourishment without which we wither. We risk being another case of ‘failure to thrive’.

How we are to conduct our pilgrimage, journeying toward our true Home with God, is analogous to life for the preborn and newly-born baby.   But I forget that fact almost every week. So, fall back into thinking I CAN and should attempt to control what scares or threatens me.

It takes stopping and getting still in order for me to re-calibrate how I think about God. Isaiah offers another reminder:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance (turning back to God) and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength”…..Isaiah 30:15 NIV

Do you cringe when you are asked? “Give us your testimony?”

January 25, 2020

Maria Evangelism, Faith, Forgiveness, God's Glory, Gospel, Isaiah 43, Uncategorized , , 1 Comment

Last week I attended a volunteer orientation at our local crisis pregnancy center here in Huntsville. Part of the training to be an intake counselor includes how to share God’s good news, the Gospel, using videos from Evantell.org I like their approach because the focus is not on me, but on God.  It’s about sharing good news of what Christ has done.

However, at last week’s briefing, the CPC director encouraged us to think about our own personal testimony and be prepared to share it.

I tend to feel reluctant when I think about how knowing Jesus has changed me. After all, I still sin, A LOT!  My default supposition is:

  • If I had more faith, I would not worry, fear, envy, vaunt myself.

In other words, Maria is NOT a good example of how Jesus makes a difference in someone’s life.

But then something I read gave me hope that perhaps I CAN articulate how knowing Jesus, how BEING ADOPTED by the Father have made a qualitative difference in my life.

It didn’t take long to come up with a few that make a difference each day:

  • I have faith to trust God, a gift.
  • I am far more content in each day’s circumstances because I understand, I know that God is sovereignly directing every molecule in the universe. This God is good, wise, powerful and loving. Even when His plan for me includes trials and suffering.
  • Knowing what life is all about and the purpose of life greatly stabilizes me.  Understanding the BIG PICTURE in other words.  God tells us in His word that He created all things to glorify Him. We, His image-bearers, though sinners, do this more fully because those He predestined to be saved, to be part of His forever family, spotlight His underserved kindness and mercy.
  • I am forgiven of ALL my sins – past, present, future since Jesus was punished in my place.
  • Jesus’ perfect obedience record, that is His righteousness, has been extended to me guaranteeing free access to God, the Father.
  • I am fully known by God, since He created me.
  • I am greatly and maximally loved.
  • I have a new identity. My past or my current behavior doesn’t define me.
  • I have a life purpose that is GREATER than me, one that includes an assigned role in God’s cosmic drama.  As the director and screencaster He planned the location and  timing of my role, my bit part.  I don’t have to know the details of how it’s all working out, for I already know this Story’s happy ending.
  • I have a future with God that is categorically better than this phase on earth.
  • I have guaranteed constant, on-going access (prayer) to the best Counselor who also provides strength, comfort and fellowship with God’s Holy Spirit.
  • I have God’s Word back to me.  The Bible is about God, written by God and daily tailored to my needs when I read and meditate on it. When He woke me up to His presence, He also birthed my desire to read the Bible. This has never left me, but only grows stronger over the years.
  • I have family members where ever I go – that is fellow believers.
  • I have perfect (sufficient) provision for my daily needs.
  • I have protection and rescue from evil.

This then is my testimony.

When is the appropriate time to share my story, how being in Christ, knowing the Lord makes a daily difference in my life now?  After someone has heard who God is and what He has done through Jesus Christ.

Would I share EVERY item? No, just maybe 1 or 2 that would connect best.  Do I have any favorites? I’d say knowing about God’s providential sovereignty over ALL matter together with knowing the Big Picture and my purpose.  Both of these, fueled by the Bible, are causing me to grow in contentment with His rule over my life.

What about you?  Do you have a testimony?

Isaiah 43:6b-7

Bring my sons from afar

and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.