Good morning…
We are all designed to breathe God in and live God out. We are all made to wear God’s wisdom like a polished string of pearls. We all want to let go of our self-protective layers, to experience life in its intended abundance. That certainly is our Plan A and God’s hope for each of us.
But to be honest, when Plan A falls apart and Plan B or C is forced upon me, I do not shift gears very well. Breathing God. Wearing wisdom. Letting go of my accumulated layers. My good intentions quickly evaporate and I breathe frustration. I wear disappointment. I let go of my peaceful equilibrium. I dislike most my inability to cope with grace when my own expectations are unmet.
God’s living Word helps me feel understood as I feel my mixed emotions build up and seep out, muddying the air in my nearby vicinity. The trouble is not Plan A, as Paul says …the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate (Romans 7:14-15, NLT).
Honesty convicts me: But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable (v. 17-21, MSG).
Paul continues to ramble on, happening upon his solution, my solution, our solution. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different (v. 24-25, MSG).
In this life of contradictions, raging within and around us, we need to come to Jesus: “Live in me. Live through me. Set things right in me again.”
…Sue…
