What Will It Be - Blue Skies or Mud Holes?

It’s easy sometimes for me to develop a cynical, “glass half empty”, outlook on life – especially when I’ve been burning the candle at both ends and feel as though I’m not getting much done. When I pour my heart and soul into something and my efforts seem as futile as trying to break down a wall by banging my head against it, sooner or later I’m going to end up on the floor of my circumstances. And I’ve found that’s especially true if I’ve been trying to do the work of God in my energy instead of in the power of the Holy Spirit. And to be quite honest, I’ve been wallowing around on the floor over the past few weeks. Not because I’ve intentionally rejected the power of the Holy Spirit, but because I’ve allowed the troubles and challenges of life to overwhelm the still small voice of God. Yeah, I know that sounds bad. Certainly it’s not something I’ve wanted, but it’s a reality I’ve had to come to grips with in order to be restored. This isn’t the first time I’ve weathered a storm such as this. I’m also quite sure it won’t be the last. No doubt I’ll have to contend with the struggle as long as I live on this planet and wear this ‘earth suit’ of flesh. The issue isn’t whether or not we ever go thru stuff like this, but whether or not we choose to stay there. You may be thinking, “Why on earth would anyone choose to stay in that kind of junk?” Sometimes I do so because it’s easier to stay in the “funk” rather than admit my sinfulness and humble myself before the Lord. And in so doing – or not doing as the case may be – I make the choice to stay in my circumstances. Carl Sandburg once said, "There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." He may or may not have known it, but he was basically paraphrasing a passage the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:22, "I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another law at work in me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me."Man, I know what that's like. I'm not talking about an abiding sin or temptation that we might normally think about, but sinful tendencies like pride, working for approval, taking credit for the work Christ does... all sorts of junk. It's all still birthed in the sinful nature of our flesh and it leads us to all sorts of problems. That’s one reason I have to routinely take time off - disappear – get alone with the Lord tune and into His still small voice whispering to my heart… The road to recovery usually begins by admitting my sinfulness and repenting. You say, “Wow! I didn’t know you had to deal with sin and repenting!” Oh yeah! More than I like to admit. We all have to deal with sin… If we don’t, we’ll end up getting entangled and imprisoned by it. The next step recognizing my sinful tendencies,  is to make a determined choice to live according to God’s law – His Word – rather than according to my circumstances or my fleshly desires. In Christ, we must remember that we have been untethered – set free. Paul said, “We are no longer slaves or in bondage to the old sin nature within us.”  Sometimes in order to realize that, we might have to remove ourselves from the situations and maybe the people that have influenced us to falter. Hopefully, when we turn out backs on the sinful situations, we will turn to the Lord. And in His presence we will humble ourselves, cry out for strength and restoration, and choose to live according to our new nature in Christ instead of the old nature of the flesh. But in order to do that, we have to choose to stop wallowing in the mud. And that isn’t a one-time choice. Everyday we have to choose how we will respond to the overwhelming pressure of work and responsibility. How will we respond to those who make us upset or angry? How will we relate to our friends, relatives, associates and neighbors? How and where will we spend our spare time? Each of us has many situations in which we must make a choice. Will we opt for the mud hole or soar the clear blue skies? If we can get still and quiet enough to hear the still small voice of God, we’ll hear Him saying: “Get out of the mud… It’s time to soar!”

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