A meditation on the 23rd Psalm set me to thinking this morning. "The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want."
That is a pretty big order in our modern culture where an authoritative male voice assures me that true happiness is a function of a snazzier car, the newest computer, more shoes, a more expensive beer, an exotic vacation, more education, a promotion, a raise or a thousand other things that we learn multiple times in myriad ways are never enough.
We human beans are such odd ducks. For instance, logic would tell us that if alcohol use has failed to fill the (God-shaped) whole in our hearts that we ought to try something else. But being lazy we simply try more of what is not working. So if beer doesn't work, try more beer. If more beer doesn't work switch to boilermakers. If that doesn't work add a pharmaceutical buzz, a little run at the train wreck that is gambling or the sure-to-cause shame financial support of pornography which can start with something pretty tame and "consensual" but move quickly to helping fund abuse, degradation and slavery of women and children of both genders.
The serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, who came to faith before his death, was frighteningly honest when he said he did not set out to become a cannibal, but slid into it bit by horrifying bit as he demanded more and more control over others. This is possibly the most powerful drug of our times and not, in the early stages, illegal. Eventually not even killing his victims was enough. I doubt if anyone actually plans to become a monster, but once we start to demand that our every whim is more important than the needs of others, we are in a downward spiral that only God can stop.
But here is the really horrid part: the more pain-filled and mean and disgusting our behavior, the more we feel God could never want to help us because we feel we have no value, no future, no right to escape the muck. But this is not true. God is bigger than any mess we can make. If we ask for His help, acknowledge Him as our God and Lord, even when we are not sure what that means, God stands willing to teach us, touch us kindly, deliver us from the muck and show us how to reach back and use our own God-powered victory to bring hope to others who are without hope.
Whatever is dragging you down today is not bigger than God. Nothing can make you unacceptable to God because He loves you so much He allowed His own Son to intercede on our behalf. Your redemption, your rehabilitation, your hope are already fully paid. Won't you take His Hand today?
That is a pretty big order in our modern culture where an authoritative male voice assures me that true happiness is a function of a snazzier car, the newest computer, more shoes, a more expensive beer, an exotic vacation, more education, a promotion, a raise or a thousand other things that we learn multiple times in myriad ways are never enough.
We human beans are such odd ducks. For instance, logic would tell us that if alcohol use has failed to fill the (God-shaped) whole in our hearts that we ought to try something else. But being lazy we simply try more of what is not working. So if beer doesn't work, try more beer. If more beer doesn't work switch to boilermakers. If that doesn't work add a pharmaceutical buzz, a little run at the train wreck that is gambling or the sure-to-cause shame financial support of pornography which can start with something pretty tame and "consensual" but move quickly to helping fund abuse, degradation and slavery of women and children of both genders.
The serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, who came to faith before his death, was frighteningly honest when he said he did not set out to become a cannibal, but slid into it bit by horrifying bit as he demanded more and more control over others. This is possibly the most powerful drug of our times and not, in the early stages, illegal. Eventually not even killing his victims was enough. I doubt if anyone actually plans to become a monster, but once we start to demand that our every whim is more important than the needs of others, we are in a downward spiral that only God can stop.
But here is the really horrid part: the more pain-filled and mean and disgusting our behavior, the more we feel God could never want to help us because we feel we have no value, no future, no right to escape the muck. But this is not true. God is bigger than any mess we can make. If we ask for His help, acknowledge Him as our God and Lord, even when we are not sure what that means, God stands willing to teach us, touch us kindly, deliver us from the muck and show us how to reach back and use our own God-powered victory to bring hope to others who are without hope.
Whatever is dragging you down today is not bigger than God. Nothing can make you unacceptable to God because He loves you so much He allowed His own Son to intercede on our behalf. Your redemption, your rehabilitation, your hope are already fully paid. Won't you take His Hand today?
RSS Feed
