Saturday, May 1, 2010

What's Holding Me Back?

God has designed us, the new creation, to be implanted with Him. He wants relationship with us so much that Jesus died on the cross to free us from enslavement to the world, the flesh and the devil and to make us brand-new, clean adopted sons and daughters. We are objects of God's willing and generous love, provision, acceptance, empowerment, fellowship, and a million other gracious blessings too numerous to list. All this is true, and I accept it as 100% true, right? Yes.

Well, then...

What is holding God back from taking our neighborhoods and homes and cities and friends and every tribe, language, and people group for Him? He has the power all by Himself to do it without us, but He chooses to use people right? Yes! So why is there such slow progress? Why is evil "getting away with murder"?

I believe the answer is "me. " Every one of the mes who belong to Jesus Christ may be more like me than like our great Savior. I think that the reasons may be these:

1. I need to go imitate some Christian leader, learn more stuff, get better at sharing my testimony and the Gospel, and I end up putting a bunch of roadblocks and detours in my path before I'm willing to just be an ambassador. Just trust Jesus to tell me who to talk to and show the love of God to them through deeds, the Gospel and my presence. I have God's word and He is right here, available and powerful, wanting to be in communion and with me. I don't have to look around me--He is IN ME, providing everything I need for life and godliness.

2. I'm chicken that my inexperince and nervousness, anxiety or lack of confidence will mess things up (translation: I will look like an idiot and get tongue-tied). So I look like an idiot! Who cares? But bottom line, I must not think the Holy Spirit is loving and strong enough to provide what is needed, or don't think He cares about the other person enough to cause His love to pour out of me to that other person, or to demonstrate through me the power of a transformed life.

By my actions you can tell what I believe. But I really do believe that these excuses are bogus, right? Perhaps the excuses are a smokescreen. Maybe it's a failure to appreciate the gravity of my own sinfulness and the enormity of God's loving grace and forgiveness lavished on me, coupled with a willingness and eager loving heart to give myself away for my Beloved, to share His grace with those who are beloved by Him every bit as much as He has loved me.

What's holding me back? An ungrateful, selfish heart, unmoved by the power of the gracious Gospel that brought me from wrath and death to life and love and joy.

Help!