Living Beyond Ourselves

  “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired   

   even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.  But this happened that

   we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” 

                                                                                                          2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NIV)

I am visiting at my dad’s home as I write this.  Each time I have walked to his back yard, I can't help but notice two shrubs growing extremely close to each other. One is larger, but the two blend completely because they have been manicured to appear as one.  When I see this, I can’t help but think of how the Father is growing us into the likeness of His Son, Jesus.  I think He does this in as many ways as there are children of God.

I am sure you have heard these two statements:

               God helps those who help themselves.

                                                          

               God never gives us more than we can handle.

Sometimes you will hear people quote these statements as though they are taken from the Bible, but they are not.  There are verses similar in content, but they are specifically pointing us to dependence on God, not independence.

I think God always sets us on a path that proves to be more than we can handle.  I have heard this referred to as God’s glory.  He wants us to live beyond what we can do. 

To hear someone say, “I can’t do this any more,” it may make us think we should tell that person that he or she can, or it may make us want to try to fix that person or fix the circumstances.  But this sense of helplessness is, in fact, the first step towards losing trust in oneself. 

We must be broken from the illusion that we are to have control over people or things.  This brokenness often results when our seeming control of that person or thing fails.  This is God rescuing us from ourselves, bringing us to the end of ourselves.  It is in that sense of loss that we can fully look to God in faith, and trust, and in dependence for our very lives.  

The first time I began to see myself powerless to control was, for me, the hardest.  It was like taking my first step into a dark room, not knowing what would be ahead or behind me.  But this is when I began to learn to live by faith, when I knew that Christ would live through me.  We were one.  It’s when I began to see His compassion and love for others within me, and realized that I could love others with the same love with which He loves me.  Having been a very self centered, self reliant woman, this has given me hope about loving others.  Before, I was always the victim.  I was very controlling, in denial, and fully protecting myself from anyone or anything that might hurt me.  To love is to be risky.  To be one’s true self, allowing emotions to be felt—this is to live in the reality of who Christ is, and who I am in Him.

One of the greatest things that has happened to me in these last several years is to be associated with the mentally ill, and also with addicts.  I was silenced by their humility.   They know they need help beyond themselves.  They are honest about who they really are.  They are blessed by a community few of us know about.   I am reminded that the sick, the adulterer, the thief—those who recognized they were sinners—were not the ones who crucified Christ.  It was those who were socially acceptable and esteemed for their religious acts.   Remember, Christ died for the sinner, not for the righteous. 

Our distorted, dysfunctional beliefs about God hinder us from entering into intimate relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit.  But we can see God in the face of Jesus, so we know that He is not an angry god waiting to take out His anger on His children.  Neither is He absent.  He is just, but His wrath against sin was satisfied by Jesus on the cross, making the way for us to enjoy intimacy with God: Father, Son, and Spirit.  The more we enjoy being with God and receiving His love, the more we see ourselves as beloved, accepted children of the King, and the more we find ourselves living beyond ourselves.  It is there that we know true rest and peace.

Prayer:

Lord we seek you in the glow of your presence.  It is your love that enlightens us and changes us.  Help us to know you.  We receive your love.  Fill our hearts and minds with who you are.  Help us understand that we are fully loved and accepted.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  Melt our hearts and break us gently.  We come with our rejections, our sufferings and our doubts.  You have compassion on us.  You know how we feel because of the cross.  May we come to others with that same love and compassion you give to us.  We touch the hem of your garment and we are healed.