Ok, so I really don't have a "twin" per say, but when talking to a co-worker this week, she referred to her "carnal nature" as her evil twin, that likes to roar it's head every now and then, and I can definitely relate to the struggle. Working in the secular world has definitely been the greatest challenge in my Christian life to this day. Because when you work for 14 hours straight, people see you not just when you are bubbly, and full of joy and happiness but also when you are frustrated, sad, super stressed out, annoyed etc. I often find myself walking away from work feeling like a disappointment and failure at living out my life for Christ, because I'm ever so sure that my own "evil twin" had reared its ugly twin too many times. This struggle however I know is not a new one. Paul, a fellow brother-in-Christ and inspired author of many New Testament books also wrote about our old self. In Romans I love how Paul writes in chapter 7 verse 24 through 25 "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin." In chapter 6 verses 10-11 he writes, "For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.
I also know that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." (Eph 6:12) And that feeling defeating, is exactly where the enemy wants me to be. Phillippians 3:13b-14 states "But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus." All I can do is press on and pursue Christ, forgetting what is behind but reaching for what is ahead.
One thing I must remember, because we are human and have "ugly, evil twins" the struggle is never going to end. That is why maintaining my prayer life and earnestly seeking the Lord through private devotion and reading of the word is essential to winning the battle, for we are a work in progress.
Philippians 4:6 "I a sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Saturday, June 9, 2007
The Flat Tires of Life
As a young single, living in the world today, my world and thoughts are often consumed with the “what-ifs” of life, such as what if I sleep through work, my cell phone isn’t charged and no one is here to wake me up? What if I wake up in the middle of the night and there is a roach on the wall? Or what if I never get married? And the most important, what if my tire goes flat, and I don’t know how to change it? No matter how many times I have wondered what would happen if this were to occur, how if I got a flat tire while driving down a lonely freeway I would just drive on the rim for miles and miles until I come to a gas station (I’ve seen it happen during car chases and it worked for them) because as a single woman we always need a plan, right?
One day after being at work sixteen hours, and being awake for over twenty-four hours I was in a rush to get home so that I could take a nap, get my carpets cleaned, a couch delivered and get ready to come back to work. At that moment, I was deliriously counting down the minutes until I could climb into bed and enjoy some moments of desperately needed sleep. As I walked into the parking garage and racked my brain to remember where my car had been parked, I finally remembered. As I neared my car, I cheerfully greeted the person pulling into the parking space next to me, I jumped into my driver’s seat, turned on the engine, and then the man that I just cheerfully had said hello to, now was tapping on my window. And at that moment, I knew that this day that I had dreaded for so long was now here, I had a flat tire. Ironically, however, none of my pre-dreamt scenarios seemed to fit the one I was in because I wasn’t on a lonely freeway, or in the middle of the downtown Fort Worth ghetto. I was instead in a covered area, with three kind people almost instantly willing to help me with this plight I had found myself in. In no time, what could have been a catastrophe was soon fixed. I had a fix-a-flat in my car, another of the guys had an air pump in his car, there was a place across the street that could put my spare on, and I made it to a tire place shortly after that was able to fix the tire. And in less than an hour and a half I was in my bed catching some zzzz’s.
Unlike the health and wealth prosperity gospel that so many Christians today are deceived by, we as Christians do face trials and difficulties in life no matter how strong our faith is. In fact, it seems when our faith is where it should be is when these trials seem to come our way in order to test our faith. We as Christians do get sick, we have financial struggles, our houses flood, we lose our jobs, we get cancer and have heart attacks, and… we do get flat tires. Because the promises in the bible are not that we won’t have difficulty, but that during the difficult times God will carry us through. One of the first verses that many of us learn as young children is Psalm 23. David writes in verse four, “Even though I was through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” And the life of Joseph and Job of how God used difficult circumstances to bring Him glory. I could never have imagined or dreamt that it would have happened just how it did, so why did I spend so many useless minutes dreaming up plans on how to rescue myself, or worrying and fearing over something I did not know if or how it would happen. I should have instead spent my energy trusting in the one who not only always is there for me, but also doesn’t have to dream how it will happen, why? Because He already knows!!
One day after being at work sixteen hours, and being awake for over twenty-four hours I was in a rush to get home so that I could take a nap, get my carpets cleaned, a couch delivered and get ready to come back to work. At that moment, I was deliriously counting down the minutes until I could climb into bed and enjoy some moments of desperately needed sleep. As I walked into the parking garage and racked my brain to remember where my car had been parked, I finally remembered. As I neared my car, I cheerfully greeted the person pulling into the parking space next to me, I jumped into my driver’s seat, turned on the engine, and then the man that I just cheerfully had said hello to, now was tapping on my window. And at that moment, I knew that this day that I had dreaded for so long was now here, I had a flat tire. Ironically, however, none of my pre-dreamt scenarios seemed to fit the one I was in because I wasn’t on a lonely freeway, or in the middle of the downtown Fort Worth ghetto. I was instead in a covered area, with three kind people almost instantly willing to help me with this plight I had found myself in. In no time, what could have been a catastrophe was soon fixed. I had a fix-a-flat in my car, another of the guys had an air pump in his car, there was a place across the street that could put my spare on, and I made it to a tire place shortly after that was able to fix the tire. And in less than an hour and a half I was in my bed catching some zzzz’s.
Unlike the health and wealth prosperity gospel that so many Christians today are deceived by, we as Christians do face trials and difficulties in life no matter how strong our faith is. In fact, it seems when our faith is where it should be is when these trials seem to come our way in order to test our faith. We as Christians do get sick, we have financial struggles, our houses flood, we lose our jobs, we get cancer and have heart attacks, and… we do get flat tires. Because the promises in the bible are not that we won’t have difficulty, but that during the difficult times God will carry us through. One of the first verses that many of us learn as young children is Psalm 23. David writes in verse four, “Even though I was through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” And the life of Joseph and Job of how God used difficult circumstances to bring Him glory. I could never have imagined or dreamt that it would have happened just how it did, so why did I spend so many useless minutes dreaming up plans on how to rescue myself, or worrying and fearing over something I did not know if or how it would happen. I should have instead spent my energy trusting in the one who not only always is there for me, but also doesn’t have to dream how it will happen, why? Because He already knows!!
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