Matthew 16:25
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
This is the verse that comes to mind when I read of God's instructions to Zedekiah through the prophet Jeremiah. But I saw a little bit differently today.
Jeremiah tells the king that if he completely surrenders to the Babylonians then he will live and his city and family will be spared as well. But, if he does not, if he tries to hold onto all that is his then destruction will be waiting.
It seems like a no brainer right? Surrender and live or hold on and perish. What would you do? I know the textbook answer: "I would surrender it all!!!" The truth of the matter is though, I don't. Oh I have made a confession of faith. I have given my heart to Christ and in return he has guaranteed me the promise of a new life in heaven with him one day. This I am certain of.
But what about daily surrender? What about giving God the full reins of my life every single day? What about trusting him to guide me even when it doesn't make sense or feel safe? This was Zedekiah's issue. He was afraid of others, the people who had already gone to the Babylonians. He was worried about how they would treat him, what they would say and do. He wasn't looking at how big his God was but at the circumstances that surrounded him. His heart was full of fear.
When faced with difficult circumstance, challenges in life, pain and heart ache, fear – it can be difficult for me to lift my eyes up to the Lord and say, "I trust you with this. I don't understand what you are doing or where this is leading but I surrender my life today to your control and I will let you lead me." I want to say this but I have difficulty doing it. There is so much unknown that scares me and causes me to hesitate even though I know that God say's his plans are not to harm me but to give me a hope and a future.
God has a life that he wants me to live right now, that he wants me to find, to discover. It is a full life. It is a joyous life. It is a content life. It is a peace filled life. It is a life full of hope and satisfaction in Christ. This does not mean a life free from turmoil and pain. A life free from struggle or hardship. It means that God says when I surrender completely to him and rest (rest not fidget) in his hands and I know that he has a good (good according to his knowledge not mine) plan for my life then no matter what comes my way I will find the very best life on this earth, the one God desires me to be living, right now. What will make it joyous, full, content, and peace filled is that my focus will be on the Lord and these things will be found in Him not in my circumstances.
The key is trust! Do I trust God? Zedekiah did not. I think he wanted to but he couldn't. His fear was greater then his faith. It's sad and I'm a bit ashamed to admit that often in my life my fear is far greater then my faith. I know what God promises me but unlike King David (who took down Goliath with just one little stone), I look at those giants in my life and I run from them not towards them in confidence of what God is going to do.
So how do I, how do we build that trust? How do we turn the table and develop a faith that isn't just greater then our fears but that crushes our fear? How do we find and live the life God so very much desires us to live?
1. Friends. We all need someone to help us walk through out struggles. Zedekiah had Jeremiah to remind him of God's word and to help him. We need to let someone (a Christian friend) in and let them help us along the way. Someone to talk with and pray with. We were never meant to take this journey alone. Remember when a predator is looking for it's prey it seeks the one who is away from the pack, who is alone. Solitude leaves us weakened and vulnerable. When we stumble we need someone to help us get back up on our feet and to continue to journey.
2. Prayer. If we don't pray, if we aren't talking to God on a regular daily (and all day long) basis then we are creating a disconnect with the very one who sees it all, who knows the end of our day before our day has even started. Hard to have trust in someone you don't spend time with. By praying you are saying I don't have all the answers and that you need God to help you. Zedekiah asked others to pray but he himself never lifted his voice to the Lord. His heart was disconnect.
3. Reading our bibles. Remember this is how we build faith not necessarily finding the exact answers. We will be reminded over and over again that God does not do things in a way that seems to make sense from an earthly, human perspective. Yet in the bible every time people are faithful to do what God is leading them to do they come out victorious. Sometimes the directions that God led were long, lonely, painful, confusing, and completely opposite of what it seemed one should do but it always led to the fullest life that God intends for them to live. His word is a promise for us; we just need to be willing to accept it. If Zedekiah and the leaders before him had kept the word close to their hearts he would have been in a very different set of circumstances then he found himself in.
4. Take a chance. We have to start somewhere. Even if the path is filled with pain God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace – God will be with us as we take those baby steps of faith. If Zedekiah had taken a chance the outcome would have been so much better for him and for others. Not perfect, he still would have been in captivity but God would have seen him through that as well and allowed him to live a life in the joy of the Lord who saved him despite his circumstances.
I know that not all of you struggle like I do but I know that there some of you out there who know exactly how I feel. I am lifting you up in prayer and asking God to help us as we seek to increase our faith and crush our fears so we can find the life God desires us to have now.
I'm always here for anyone who needs to start with a Friend!
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