We are always seeking and searching…

There seems to be a disconnect in our hearts and our heads. Or maybe there isn’t. Maybe we our heads and hearts are disconnected together. We are chasing… constantly… the next best thing. The next vacation. The next semblance of rest… or distraction. A spark of happiness or relief from the chaos of life. We see the brokenness of the world and the brokenness of ourselves and cling to the lies that nothing is ever enough, ourselves included. The presence of Sin not only made us guilty, but it made us divided within ourselves. It’s like when we desire God but chase other things.

When you look around, it’s easy to feel like life is heavy. Like it’s full of pressure and empty, futile attempts to find a sense of being whole.

My Lead Pastor today started talking about the hills and valleys. How it can feel easy to rely on God when things are hard because even if it is fueled by selfish motives, we are at least talking to God. When things are good, we forget He is there. We forget that He alone is the reason things are “easy”. We quit reading. We quit praying. We quit worshipping. When you don’t believe, you don’t know what it’s like to find the Father in chaos. When you do believe… we forget to bring Him along without it.

It has me thinking back to a book I read. It’s a book called “Walking with God” by John Eldridge. It has a theme God making us “Whole and Holy”. Christianity is actually about how God is after our heart transformation. He desires to make us whole via restoration of our hearts, mind, soul, and life. The work of grace through Jesus on the cross makes us holy and continues via the work in us by the Holy Spirit.

We believers often fall prey to this idea that Christianity is about avoiding sin and getting to heaven. It becomes this “earn my love” kind of concept. It leaves us empty. Fully of guilt and shame. Full of fear to even try. Our standing with God is based on the circumstances we find ourselves in.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are declared holy in Him and Him alone. It’s not by working hard enough or having a good enough life or by us being perfect. His act on the cross and us accepting that gift begins the process of being made whole. Then by sanctification (which literally goes on for the rest of our lives) we are gradually shaped more into the character of Christ. The more you spend time with God and read His word, the more you know the character you are seeking to be transformed in to.

The whole point of Jesus was to come and restore mankind. To provide a way for us to be washed clean of our sin so that we can live in the presence of our Heavenly Father. God isn’t just after our actions, He wants all of us.

So what does this have to do with the hills and valleys?

We think that the trials are consequences and we have somehow earned the circumstances we find ourselves in. I mean, sometimes we have… but not always. Reality is that we live in a broken and fallen world and we ourselves are broken people. The things we face and go through are refining us and making us whole and holy. A friend of mine once said “If you pray for patience, God will give you opportunities to be patient”. And I think that’s the whole point. God uses the things we encounter for His goodness. For us to grow and surrender and be transformed.

And when things are easy. Praise Him on the mountain. He is the one who put you there. I think the fastest way to distance ourselves from God is to be in a place of “good” without praising Him or thanking Him for the works He did to get us there. When things get easier or prayers get answered, we have to be careful that it isn’t all about us. We still have to sit at His feet and be in the Bible. We still get to come to Him in prayer. He wants everything. Our whole lives. The good. The bad. The ugly.

He wants to make us both whole and holy.

Even in this broken life…

Under The Sun.