I want to tell you a story. It’s not really mine to tell, but the Lord showed me something through it, so I think it’s ok… besides, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
My friend, Christian, has a dog. More accurately, a juvenile Australian Sheppard mix – big as a dog, but still ALL puppy. Her name is Ebenezer, and she’s beautiful. Not in show dog standards, but if you can measure beauty by exuberance and unconditional love, such as dogs have, well, then, she is quite the beauty queen - cow lick down her back and all…
Now, Ebenezer has a problem with temptation and self-control. Her owners, being the intelligent men that they are, barricaded her from the Christmas tree, knowing that if she went anywhere near it, she would not be able to contain herself. As these things are want to happen, said barricade did not hold, and alas, all the presents were ripped open in sheer ecstasy and delight, and Ebenezer spent the night throwing up one of the gifts she had eaten.
I’m laughing now as I write, and I was chuckling about it yesterday when the Lord showed me something.
How like us to do the same thing, metaphorically speaking, of course (…I hope…)? His Word promises us that we can OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER the strongholds in our lives – the temptations and the sin that keep us from living fully in the heart of God. I’m talking about real issues – lust (gasp), rage, pride, self-hatred, old pre-Jesus ways of living life and protecting ourselves… fill in your blank. How often do we barricade ourselves, thinking we are safe from something we KNOW we struggle with, only to climb right over that barricade and get into all sorts of trouble?
You may not have noticed, but I intentionally left out something that God’s Word tells us in that promise. More correctly, His Word tells us that THROUGH HIM we can overwhelmingly conquer all things. What would happen, do you suppose, if we stopped trying to protect ourselves, and allowed Him to do it for us? What would happen if we turned to Him and stood firm (or held on for dear life), trusting Him to be our Conqueror, as He promises?
3 comments:
That sounds so much like so many folks I have known - one very well! Either jumping over or tearing down the barriers that they had placed that said "I'll never do that again". It is so much eaiser when we just renounce the thing, but then ask God for strength because we are not strong enough in ourselves. Good allegory. ec
Our feeble promises and such can't even pretend to be enough. I love that God can. He gave us a new nature and new life and a way out of EVERY temptation.
This has been a constant theme for me over the last few weeks, that I need to trust Him. Life can get pretty wild at times but it is in the control of a wild God and I take a lot of comfort in that. I have got to stop believing that the barriers I put up will keep me from struggling with lust or self-loathing, they won't. It's is only by Christ in me, around me through me that that will happen. In other words, He must be in control of everything.
This also makes me think of the barriers He puts into place to protect me. I can be so tunnel visioned sometimes, looking for what I want, I completely ignore His warnings and get myself into trouble. For my life, I know I need to listen to His voice. Letting Him guide and guard my heart.
This is a great post. Thank you for that Ann.
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