Time and time again I feel like I ask and pray for the same thing. I continue to ask God to help restore me, "Fill me up with his love, and remind me of whose I am again." Have you ever felt frustrated with yourself for having to say the same prayer over and over again?
The enemy will have you believing that. "Oh here we go again! You are such a mess! Always needing the same thing over and over, when will you ever get this right?" The truth is, we may never get it right. We will have some days that we do things right and can feel great about it, and then we can have days where again we feel defeated and weak and fail miserably. This is what the enemy wants you to replay over and over in your head. That you are a failure, that you may never get it altogether, and that you are stuck here. We are striving for perfection, but perfection seems unreachable. We get pretty far sometimes, and then something happens and we are right back at square 1! All that work and I'm back at square 1! How frustrating and disappointing that can feel for us.
Listen, Beloved. You are not a failure. You are not a disappointment. We are living in a world that is plagued with sin, and in our own bodies, this flesh we live in, we are drawn to sin.
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me." - Romans 7: 15 - 17
The question is how do we overcome it? How do we get past this struggle?
Let me take you into the book of Matthew. You've probably read or heard this story before, but let's take a closer look at it. In Matthew 14:22-32, is the story where Jesus walks on water. Just before this happens, one of Jesus dear friend, John the Baptist had just died. He was beheaded. It was a terrible death. Jesus retreated to a solitary place, perhaps for time of prayer and mourning and quiet time. At this time, a large crowd continued to follow him into the remote area. He performed a miracle that day by providing food and water to a large crowd with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He then dismisses the crowd and tells his disciples to get back on their boat and go ahead of him. He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. This is when the story begins. It's just before dawn, and the disciples see something in the distance, someone or something is coming towards them, and as it gets closer, they realize, "It is Jesus, he walks on the water!" The disciples were afraid. Peter cries out, "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus invites him to step onto the water towards him. Miraculously Peter does this, and he does not sink but he too is also walking on water! When he sees the wind picking up, Peter becomes afraid, looks down at his feet and he begins to sink! At this time, Jesus reaches out his hand to catch him and says to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?".
Peter. You gotta love that Peter! He reminds us so much of how each of us can be sometimes, doubtful. I can share so many things about this particular story, but there's one main thing I want to focus on today. Peter became afraid when the wind picked up, and his focus that was once on Jesus trailed off and instead he looked at himself and began to sink.
How often have we all done that? We start trusting in ourselves and go at it in life, 100 miles an hour, just going and going. We trust in other things to give us rest, and some of us don't even rest at all! It's that moment when we take our eyes off of Jesus, do we begin to sink, and sink. We cry out for help, and Jesus again catches us!
Our struggle and battle is real. It remains until the day of the Lord comes. There is a battle for our hearts dearly beloved. It is when we take our eyes, our focus, off of Jesus when we begin to sink again. We will continue to struggle with this daily. No one is exempt from being in the flesh and living in this sinful nature. All of us are weak, that is why daily we must come to Him who gives life! Him who restores! Him who comforts, provides, and heals!
So yes, we may pray the same prayer, "Father restore me, heal me, and make me whole", but it is because we know that we are weak and that we can be humble and come to the feet of Jesus. I come thirsty and hungry, knowing that the only thing that can satisfy and give me peace and understanding is Him who lives in me.
- For a deeper study, read Romans 7:7-25, and Romans 8:1-17
The enemy will have you believing that. "Oh here we go again! You are such a mess! Always needing the same thing over and over, when will you ever get this right?" The truth is, we may never get it right. We will have some days that we do things right and can feel great about it, and then we can have days where again we feel defeated and weak and fail miserably. This is what the enemy wants you to replay over and over in your head. That you are a failure, that you may never get it altogether, and that you are stuck here. We are striving for perfection, but perfection seems unreachable. We get pretty far sometimes, and then something happens and we are right back at square 1! All that work and I'm back at square 1! How frustrating and disappointing that can feel for us.
Listen, Beloved. You are not a failure. You are not a disappointment. We are living in a world that is plagued with sin, and in our own bodies, this flesh we live in, we are drawn to sin.
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me." - Romans 7: 15 - 17
The question is how do we overcome it? How do we get past this struggle?
Let me take you into the book of Matthew. You've probably read or heard this story before, but let's take a closer look at it. In Matthew 14:22-32, is the story where Jesus walks on water. Just before this happens, one of Jesus dear friend, John the Baptist had just died. He was beheaded. It was a terrible death. Jesus retreated to a solitary place, perhaps for time of prayer and mourning and quiet time. At this time, a large crowd continued to follow him into the remote area. He performed a miracle that day by providing food and water to a large crowd with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He then dismisses the crowd and tells his disciples to get back on their boat and go ahead of him. He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. This is when the story begins. It's just before dawn, and the disciples see something in the distance, someone or something is coming towards them, and as it gets closer, they realize, "It is Jesus, he walks on the water!" The disciples were afraid. Peter cries out, "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus invites him to step onto the water towards him. Miraculously Peter does this, and he does not sink but he too is also walking on water! When he sees the wind picking up, Peter becomes afraid, looks down at his feet and he begins to sink! At this time, Jesus reaches out his hand to catch him and says to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?".
Peter. You gotta love that Peter! He reminds us so much of how each of us can be sometimes, doubtful. I can share so many things about this particular story, but there's one main thing I want to focus on today. Peter became afraid when the wind picked up, and his focus that was once on Jesus trailed off and instead he looked at himself and began to sink.
How often have we all done that? We start trusting in ourselves and go at it in life, 100 miles an hour, just going and going. We trust in other things to give us rest, and some of us don't even rest at all! It's that moment when we take our eyes off of Jesus, do we begin to sink, and sink. We cry out for help, and Jesus again catches us!
Our struggle and battle is real. It remains until the day of the Lord comes. There is a battle for our hearts dearly beloved. It is when we take our eyes, our focus, off of Jesus when we begin to sink again. We will continue to struggle with this daily. No one is exempt from being in the flesh and living in this sinful nature. All of us are weak, that is why daily we must come to Him who gives life! Him who restores! Him who comforts, provides, and heals!
So yes, we may pray the same prayer, "Father restore me, heal me, and make me whole", but it is because we know that we are weak and that we can be humble and come to the feet of Jesus. I come thirsty and hungry, knowing that the only thing that can satisfy and give me peace and understanding is Him who lives in me.
- For a deeper study, read Romans 7:7-25, and Romans 8:1-17
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