This week, in my journal, I began to write about things that can combat my negative core beliefs, but instead of combating the already existing beliefs, I decided to create a new, positive one. Here is what is written in my journal: "God loves me unconditionally as one who is redeemed by the blood of His precious son, and as long as He sees me as worthy and calls me His beloved, I will be lacking nothing."
The issue is that, for most of us, this isn't even close to the truth. We think that we can make God our everything, but when we really think about what that would mean, we change our minds. It would mean losing all of our possessions, most of our clothing, our money, our family, our friends, everything that we ever held dear except for Jesus. Would you really be okay with God being everything then? Or would you wish you had at least some of that stuff back?
Hey, I'm the same way. If I'm honest, I would not be okay with losing everything today. I would not be able to say that God is still good, and that I still had all I needed. God would not be enough for me. And I don't want to be that way anymore. I want God to be enough for me. I want everything in this world to pale so much in comparison to God that I don't even notice when it's gone. The trouble is that, as feeble-minded people, we too quickly get distracted from keeping our eyes on the Lord.
Even Peter, who literally saw Jesus in front of him and was walking towards Jesus, got distracted by the waves. Sometimes, I am Peter, set on the Lord and walking towards Him step-by-step. Then, the worries and deadlines of this world start to creep up on me and splash me left and right. The winds of adversity whistle through the air and almost sweep me off my feet. That is when I begin to take my eyes off of the Lord. I go through times of intense pain, stress, and anxiety and I get distracted from following after Jesus. I take my eyes off of the only man who can save me when I begin to drown in everything this world throws at me.Then, a miraculous thing happens for me, just as it happened for Peter. As I begin to sink further and further down, Jesus stretches out his hand and takes me out of the clutches of everything this world throws at me.
I think that we have a hard time seeing ourselves as lovable, so we cannot wrap our small brains around God's huge plan for redemption. We cannot love in the same way that God can, so we cannot understand how He gave up everything for us who had turned against Him. It makes no sense, but that is part of the mystery of grace. I think once we realize that we have grace and mercy daily, we begin to accept the love of God. And when we see that He loves us so much more than any other person or being could, we realize that He would never hurt us if it wasn't for our own good.
Believe me, I know it is hard when everyday feels like a constant struggle against the waves and the wind. But, we have a God who can walk on water, invites you to walk on top of the waves with Him, and will always save you when you inevitably take your eyes off of Him. Therefore, you can trust that if you were left with nothing but God right now today, you would still lack nothing.
