Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Life Got In The Way

by Donna L. Watkins

© Donna L. Watkins - Squeek and Doggie
When we were born, God created us to be totally unique. Psalm 139 says, "you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb ... I am fearfully and wonderfully made ... My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

God had plans for our lives before we were born. It seems to take a lifetime to turn full circle and come back to the place where our entire being is willing to bend and be formed into the purposes of God. Sadly, there are many that have to desire to bend nor to be formed by God.

Life gets in the way. From the moment we are born there is a battle for our souls. We grow up in a place that is filled with sin and choices of good and evil, and like Adam and Eve, we don't always make the right choices.

Our childhoods are filled with control, rebellion, and misconceptions. As children we do not have the full picture of what life is all about nor the wisdom behind the reasons our parents do things. Parenting is an incredibly huge responsibility and there's no way to do this job perfectly. All of the desires, dreams and fears of the parent magnify and homes become very dysfunctional.

When we've lived almost 25% of our lives, we are turned out on our own to see if we can do better. Generally in our own minds, better means opposite of what we didn't like growing up. But one extreme is no better than another and so life continues to get in the way of God's plan for our lives.

But God is God and He will never give up on us. If we are willing to let Him take control of our lives, He will clean up the mess we make and regardless of how many years or days we have left to live, He will give us purpose and passion to be who we were designed to be.

The hard part is choosing to let go. Our culture tells us to take control and to manage our own lives ... but wisdom tells us differently. Within we know that we can't do it. It's only a question of long we will keep pretending. Trust is not an easy thing to come by for those who are independent and trying to control their lives. When I come to a place where I know I am not trusting God, I remember the words from a song we sing at church and it makes me smile and release my grip:

Our God is an awesome God. He reigns over Heaven and Earth with wisdom, power and love, our God is an awesome God.

Do I really think I can accomplish something that He cannot? I'm just postponing the victory. Is it worth the sacrifice of my life, purpose and plan to keep the reins? There is One who will do what's best for me if I listen and let Him. I need to believe each event throughout each day has a purpose of good for me, and in that trust and belief, I will come out in peace and joy. It's not about things being perfect and all good. It's about trusting that it's all good no matter what it looks like.

In the Garden of Eden the serpent tempted Eve with the thought that God did not have her best interests at heart and so she wanted to take control of what she could and couldn't do rather than to follow the plan outlined. She grabbed and took control and it was all downhill from there. Jesus came so we could take that garden back and have dominion over the serpent. Don't listen to him. God created us. He knows what we need regardless of what it looks like to us. Trust Him and don't reach for another apple.

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© 2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription. Link URL: http://www.thenatureinus.com

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