Mountains part 2
We really are pretty good at making mountains out of molehills, aren't we? Especially in the church world. I've never seen people more ready to fight than "religious folk." I think that's why the idea of "driving the sin out of the camp" is so popular in so many places. And, to a degree, I get it. Its easy to have something to focus on. Something to rally against. And when you're fighting--even if you're losing sometimes--at least it feels like you're DOING something. Because with this understanding of grace, and mercy, and rest... sometimes it feels like we aren't doing anything. But, as always, rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth--ALWAYS directs us to love. It drives me bonkers when I hear people say things like, "Well, I'd like to help but let me pray on it first." Helping is the whole deal! Caring about people. Seeing a need and meeting it. Loving people. You never have to try to figure out whether or not you're supposed to love someone. Spoiler alert: You're supposed to love them. Follow your heart. Do what you can do, where you're at, with what you've got. And don't borrow trouble. That's kind of the main point I'm trying to make. Jesus won the war to end all wars. That means there are no more wars to fight. We don't conquer, or overcome, when we decide that we have earned the power to overcome. We HAVE overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word (love) of our (HIS) testimony. We overcame when HE overame. Let me say it like this, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). And again like this, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). We don't have to overcome. Jesus already overcame. We don't have to conquer. Jesus already conquered. We are MORE than conquerors through Him. And the best way to explain this is like this: If you're a boxer, and you win your fight, and you get the payday... you're a conqueror. But if you're a boxer's WIFE, and HE wins the fight, YOU still get the payday. HE conquered, and you're MORE than a conqueror. He did the work, and you get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. So while I can understand the impulse to fight... the only fight left at this point is the good fight of faith. Laying hold of eternal life. Receiving and releasing the gift that we've been given. I can see the wisdom behind the saying, "God gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb." But there's a more excellent way that says, "Jesus brought every valley high and every mountain low." He made the way straight. So all we would ever have to do is walk by faith. Know and believe that Daddy took care of it. Know and believe the love of Christ, and by knowing and believing it... experience it by sharing it. By giving it away. By letting things be what they are, and (I might hit this hard tomorrow) knowing that all things are already under our feet. We don't have to conquer. We don't have to overcome. We simply need to know how things really are. Then we can stop working (in the "trying to earn Spiritual things through our works and labor" sense) and start resting. We can stop struggling and start enjoying the life we've been given!