Don’t be afraid
Have you ever asked for a better walk with Him? Afraid of what might happen? That you might lose who you are as a person?
If this is a fear that you have, examine this scripture and see how God wants to help in your life in ways you didn’t even know were possible. The following section of Psalm 119 will help bring to light this challenge Christians face.
Psalms 119:33-40 "33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it [to] the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with [my] whole heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, [And] revive me in Your way. 38 Establish Your word to Your servant, Who [is devoted] to fearing You. 39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments [are] good. 40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness."
The Psalmist immediately identifies God as the origin of all knowledge. "Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes" this is humility in action, without such we will naturally neglect His guidance. This humility creates a bond between the Lord and ourselves based on recognizing His perfection and our lack of. This is why the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord Proverbs 9:10, and that the poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of God, Matthew 5. The believer recognizes the need and knows they are destitute without Christ.
However, we are not left there. The Psalmist then reveals the following, "Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with [my] whole heart." It is only in the Lord we find understanding, and in His Word that we find truth. When we are focused on Him, our focus will transform our lives to seeing through the eyes of the creator instead of through the eyes of creation.
This next section is one of the most difficult ideas for Christians to understand. Now you might realize I say Christian, and not the world. This next concept is hard enough for the believer in Jesus Christ to fathom, let alone those who deny Jesus.
This section is all about asking God to take control.
"Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, [And] revive me in Your way. 38 Establish Your word to Your servant, Who [is devoted] to fearing You. 39 Turn away my reproach which I dread"
Here we see statements such as "Make me walk" or "Incline my heart" and "Turn away my eyes." This is difficult because it sounds like we are giving away our free will. At first glance, it appears we are becoming mindless robots void of our own personality and action. However, this couldn't be farther from the truth.
Have you ever heard the story about man breaking the sound barrier and what we learned after?
"For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The X-1History was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude)." History. Yeager was quoted later on as saying that the vibration of the transonic drag ceased to be an issue the second the sound barrier was broken. It was smoother at those speeds than he ever thought imaginable.
How does this relate? In our walk with the Lord, people say you will lose your personality, your free will. In essence, man is not made to navigate at that level and yet, God says otherwise. Our best life is when the supersonic boom is allowed to happen and we take off allowing the Lord to lead. It is only here that we can finally say in our walk, "For Your judgments [are] good. 40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness."
I hope you see that your life is more than just a day going by, but an adventure with Christ. He is more than just our God, He is the supersonic propolson we need in our life. He is the adventure and the guidance that will take us to new heights and areas we cannot even fathom. But it all starts with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You must have this saving faith if you are ever to get off the ground and fly, let alone reach supersonic speeds.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL