If my life is so unremarkable, why the idle chatter and incessant neediness? Are we attempting to be coddled in the ambiance of indifference, from the echoes of our own voice and those who sound just like us? Let’s all live down to the averages or below, and spew idle and persistent encouragement to our comrades in chains, snared in uselessness and blind wandering. Will we ever grow sick of ourselves? i hope so.
Why do we set our eyes, hopes (and fears) on everything that surrounds us, and not lift our gaze to the only One who imbues with transforming power? Or should we go on and continue to let our circumstances define us, drawing our identity from mediocrity?
We seem to have gone so long on the road of the nominal – keeping within expectations – that we are trying to make it a more comfortable passing, instead of rising above it. Perhaps we prefer all of this underwhelming existence to the risk required to break free? And yet, even with a hint of hope that breaking free is possible, it lingers just outside our grasp. How can we summon the courage necessary for change?
Phooey, and utter contempt on the low living of the averages. I was born, you were born, to overcome.
Dizzy and Disoriented
We can get so lost within ourselves, constantly looking outside for the praise and acceptance of others… trying to derive meaning and value from the praise, adulation, and esteem of people. What we find here, tho, perhaps, temporarily satisfying, will never last. The opinions of others will turn sour, our weakness and imperfection will become visible, or we will fatigue from our “picture perfect” act, and be unable to sustain the charade.
Our enemy exploits real needs. We need others, we need meaning, we need to have a contribution, we need love. When we are duped by his schemes, we look for permanence in the temporal, and consider the eternal, if at all, beyond reach. But it is not beyond reach, to the heart that reaches in faith. Search for Me, and find Me, when you search with all your heart, is a paraphrased verse that comes to mind. We can never be satisfied by making our satisfaction our supreme pursuit. Like happiness, satisfaction is an outcome that is produced, not a prize to be fixated upon.
When we search and find Him, and see Lord Jesus with the eye of our hearts, we will at once see ourselves as we are. This can be painful. But it is good medicine, and the only medicine that will cure what ails us. He will lift us from the quicksand and set our feet upon a solid path, from which we can make real progress, and be established.
Now, when we see ourselves, is there a reference to the Lord in what we see? Is the principle reference to who we are in light of who He is? This simple thing is central to seeing everything, and everyone (including ourselves) as is. If not, we continue to get deceived by the way things appear, and lost in pursuit of the mirage. We don’t see anything as it is if we don’t see you as You are, Lord.
Let’s Pray
Lord, help me to be more of the person You had in mind, when, in Your will, and by Your grace, You sent me into the world. Help me to see You, and in seeing You see myself, including Your plans, promises and the future You have prepared. Give me hope, hope that doesn’t disappoint, and that doesn’t fade away. Give me strength, as necessary, to not be manipulated by my own needs, and thereby be made a captive. Fill my heart with the stuff of eternal life, now, and evermore. For it’s in Your name I pray, Jesus, and in Your grace I trust. Amen.