Riverside Community Church Blog

The other day I was driving to my internship and my GPS kept telling me to go a different way than usual (yes I still don’t know how to get there lol). 

The voice over kept telling me to go straight, but I continued to turn down familiar roads. It rerouted and then again, told me to go one way, but I went the other. I ended up getting stuck in traffic, getting to my destination over a half an hour late. It’s funny because as I was in the turning lane, I saw the traffic ahead of me. I saw how backed up, clogged, and messy the road was, yet I still turned down it.

It was then that I realized that in life, we foolishly make decisions like this all the time. We see how bumpy and rocky the road is ahead of us. We see how detrimental that relationship is going to be. We know that our faith will be tested when we go to that party, hangout with that group of friends, or spend time at that bar. But maybe that is familiar to us. We are comfortable with it. Sometimes we don’t know the outcome won’t be good and we are unaware, but it is the times that we are aware of the outcome and continue to go through with it anyway. We seek comfort.

Why?

We love to live in our feelings. “I feel like that would be fun.” “I feel like I could love you.” “I feel like I will be fine.” “It won’t hurt.” “Live a little!”

Proverbs 28:26 says,

Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

It is easy to want to trust the way we are feeling, to live out of the desires of our heart, to give ourselves comfort and satisfaction. That is what the world tells us, BUT God tells us differently. God says “follow me and you will be set free”. He says “let me carry your burdens”. “Let me take the wheel”. “It might be uncomfortable, but trust me”.

He may not take you down a smooth, comfortable, traffic-less road, but he sure will make the ride a lot more peaceful.

So when we see that traffic ahead of us, when we are in the mist of it, or even when we make it through, let’s fix our eyes on the Lord. As difficult it is for us to let go of something and give others control, let’s do it anyway. As hard as it is for us to trust that voice, let’s listen anyway. Surrender to him. Trust in him.

God loves us so much that he came and took the fault for us, dying for our sins. Jesus showed us what it was like to live completely relying on the Father. He didn’t choose his own path, but the path that the Father had planned for him. That is what dying to yourself looks like.

Often when we hear this message, we think we need to be better or try harder. “Just push through the pain”. But the truth is, when we surrender to the Lord and put our faith in Him, when we accept Him, He now lives in us and through us. We are able to make these difficult decisions and die to our fleshly desires because we no longer have to wrestle with them. The Holy Spirit takes over for us.

It is so freeing and comforting to experience the Spirit moving in your life.

I pray that we become more aware of the deceitfulness of our hearts and that we are able use that awareness to fuel our pursuit of the Lord. God is so much greater than a feeling we have. His way forever overpowers the plans we have for ourselves. Surrender to Him. Trust in Him. Follow Him. Ride with Him.

1 John 3:20,

For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

 

Write a Comment

Comments for this post have been disabled.