I Seem To Have Lost My Oar

I am going to try and be clever and use an analogy here, so this may not turn out too well! This summer, I have paddled my way into this deep water that is not safe. The temptations are high, and the environment isn't the greatest. The water is rough, and many storms pass through. At the beginning of the summer, I was doing great and had both of my oars, and my life jacket. As the summer continued to go on, the storms seem to get really bad and I lost control of one of my oars. So here I am, with one oar, and a life jacket that I am not letting go of. The thing is, the storms are not going to stop anytime soon, so its only a matter of time until I will lose my other oar. Then, I will be left with only my life jacket. Now to explain this whole analogy thing because it probably didn't make any sense at all. Both of my oars are the growth that I am using. Let me explain this. My growth in Christ has slowly enabled me to withstand storms that otherwise I could never fight. Before, putting myself into this environment was like walking the plank. Before, I would have lost both of my oars right away. I am slowly losing my control (my oars), and going back to where I was a couple of years ago. It seems as if my decisions are worse now than ever. As Paul has stated, I do the things that I wish not to do. My life jacket, of course, is my God. That life jacket will never come off, but only if I choose to utilize it will it come into play. It has to be a decision of mine. My life jacket is buckled so close to me that there is no way that it is going to come off. My prayer, Oh God, is to sprint to you and allow you to be my strength!

I Will Hold Tight to the Hand of Him

A really good friend pointed something out to me last night. Why do I worry? It is because I have to have control and I am not allowing God to have that control. I think that if I am worrying, my defenses are up and I can stop (or defend) myself from anything. My friend sort of laughed at this, and asked me if I really thought that I could outsmart God. Thats all that I am trying to do! I am trying to outsmart Him by controlling what happens. No human could ever possibly do this! Why do I think that I am so smart? Why do I think that I am so much bigger and better than God? After talking with my friend last night, my defenses went down, the fear was extinguished, and I was finally able to have normal sleep. It is amazing what happens when we allow God to have complete control of our fears. God is the ultimate protection. My friend also shared a passage with me, and one of the verses really stuck out to me. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1. When we are scared or terrified, God can be our strength and our ultimate hiding place. He is much better than any bed we can hide under. He is the ultimate light in the darkness. Anything that we try to substitute Him with, is not even half as good.