by David Scott Robertson
I got up late this morning…again.
I hate it when that happens.
I hate what happens internally to me as a result of this kind of thing.
It may not happen to you, but for me it goes something like this…
When I have to hurry and scurry through my prayer time, Bible study, and so on
I don’t feel right charging into my day.
It’s kind of like going to work a job that requires hard labor without eating breakfast.
Then while you’re rushing to get showered and all the other necessary todos
To get on down the road
You start to think of all the other things that aren’t quite right in your world.
Things that are off just a hair -
Things that are not working in your life like they should.
Have you ever driven behind a car that is badly out of alignment?
It looks like it is driving down the road a little sideways.
The driver may not even be aware of it but over time it can devastate the tread on the tires.
Why? Because it is out of alignment and subtle friction wears the tires out.
My life feels like that sometimes.
I feel like today I need a front-end alignment.
I need a valve job.
I need an attitude adjustment.
Well, before I know it,
I’m having thoughts about how crummy my marriage is,
What a bad dad I am,
How things at work are stuck and all my pending projects seem to be hung up in mud,
My exercise program is flabby,
I’m not eating right,
And on and on and on the little fiery darts jab into my thought life.
Have you ever started down that pathway of self-pity?
Have you ever had something minor lead to something major?
Have you ever had a mountain erupt out of a molehill?
Now all of what I’m thinking may be facts, but I assure you they are not the truth!
If I allow myself to,
If I don’t confront these facts with the Word of God,
By personal experience I can tell you that this road can lead to
Discouragement, disappointment, doubt, and ultimately depression.
My advice:
Don’t go there.
Just don’t go there.
I counsel you (and me) to
Go to the Rock, Jesus Christ.
Go to the Word of God.
Go to the place of worship.
Go to a friend who will pray with you.
Go to a favorite praise and worship tape.
Go to an uplifting and inspirational video.
Go to a “secret place” with God even if it is the stall of a bathroom
And cry out to God.
He will come and save you.
He will rescue you for you!
He will step in, intervene and intercept the plot of the enemy to get you down.
The moral of this story is one that you and I must take to heart if were are to
Survive and succeed in the Christian life:
God’s love and acceptance of us is not based on our performance.
Who knows?
Perhaps God Himself is allowing some of the technical difficulties to stealthily creep in
In order to test us,
To train us,
To build us,
To prepare us to be combat ready at all times.
Keep in mind that the pathway of least resistance builds no spiritual muscle.
Sometimes we need to do what King David did in Ziglag during a similar season:
“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6 KJV).
We need to learn how to encourage ourselves
And forget not all God’s benefits to us
And the unfathomable sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to
Forgive our past,
Occupy our present,
And penetrate our future.
DSR
9/23/02