As many have learned and later taught, you don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. Timothy Keller
We need Jesus…although in our day to day, we often fail to recognize our need. We become too busy hustling and bustling to and fro. We play life by the rules, assuming God will happily oblige.
Our way.
Our rules.
It’s often when the walls come crashing down…when our rules are not followed…that suddenly we see the necessity for a Savior.
Coby and I loaded the last leg of our #United flight that day, unsure how things would turn out. But this I did know…I knew my faith was being challenged in ways I had never seen before. The fire was being turned up and as my good ole’ Aggie friend would say, “Life was beginning to sizzle like bacon in a frying pan.” (Honestly, I never knew bacon sizzled. I always thought you fried up your bacon in a pan. Not sizzled. But what does a Yankee converted to a Southern gal know anyways?)
When the Enemy starts turning up the heat, it is time to put up a fight. Why? Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world (1 John 4:4). For the past four months I had watched the Enemy reek mass mayhem on my family and, unfortunately, I had pretty much just rolled over and let him. I had allowed the Enemy to toss me around in the fire, cooking me up alongside his smores for dinner.
Get out of the pit, Sister.
It was time to start believing that God is who He says He is and He can do what He says He can do. Here’s a few reasons why…
- We are from God. (I John 4:6)
- God is love. (1 John 4:8)
- God sent us Jesus so we can have life. (I John 4:9)
- God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:10)
- The Holy Spirit resides in us so we can know and believe the love God has for us. (1 John 4:13, 16)
- Perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4: 18)
Despite the fact that my baby had fallen off a twelve-foot ladder and I still had a three hour flight before I could hold him in my arms…I knew. I knew everything was going to be okay. I knew God was up to something good, despite my harrowing circumstances. I knew I didn’t have the answers, but God did. How did I know?
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5
I knew because I was exercising my faith in Someone I could not see with my own two eyes. His name is Jesus. And no matter the outcome of my child’s fall, I was choosing to believe that God’s way would work together for my good in ways I could never imagine.
Everything was going to be okay. As soon as I squeezed that little chunk of blondness, God’s peace overwhelmed me. Doctors confirmed it was a severe concussion. The little dude was told to rest, pop some motrin, and stay away from ladders.
Love the list of truths you put in the middle of this post. Sometimes we just need to say those to ourselves outloud!! Thx!
Amen to that Karen!