Save Me from Myself

We were talking about it at Bible study a few days ago,

How we need to walk with Him,

How we need Him for everything,

For joy,

For peace,

For patience,

For endurance,

For purpose,

For hope,

For salvation,

For every single breath.

Where would we be without Him?

We know we need Him, too,

When things go wrong,

When we have no strength,

When we're sure we won't survive,

When life and weight and the pressing and the crushing just hurts too much.

That's when we know we need Him.

How He must love the way we run to Him during those times,

The way we look to Him,

The way we trust in Him,

The way we give it all up to Him

And rest in Him

Until He calms the storm

And we feel safe again.

And, oh, when we feel safe again!

Then we can go back to our lives,

We can work at our jobs,

Earn our money,

Put it all in the bank,

Maybe buy that new flat-screen TV.

We can love our family,

When we have time, of course,

As work is more important,

Since we need to make ourselves safe

By making as much money as possible.

We don't need God anymore,

So we ignore Him.

Or you could be like me -

You might plan to read your Bible first thing every morning,

But then you stay up late and the alarm buzzes too early,

You find yourself far too tired to get out of bed,

Or, in my case, far too lazy,

And the Bible-reading is put off 'til later.

You ignore God during the day.

After all, there's so much going on.

Classes, homework, studying.

Then, of course, there's the social life,

And, like too much of any good thing,

It can easily cause us to lose our focus,

Keep us even busier,

Take us away from our private time with Him.

If you're like me,

You don't find another minute for God until right before bed,

When it's time for a decent prayer

About all the important things you didn't have time to pray for earlier in the day

(Because you were too lazy to get out of bed,

Then you were to busy for God)

And you make it short because you realize that you don't have much time

Because you need to read your Bible,

Then hurry up and get into bed

So you'll be able to get out of it the next morning,

Ideally in time for some time in the Word and in prayer,

But more likely in time for the first obligation that can't be put off. 

Yep, that's me.

When things are going well for us,

When everything's running smoothly,

We get so caught up in ourselves.

We start forgetting about God.

We start believing we don't need Him for every breath.

After all, we're doing fine on our own.

The laundry actually got done,

The stack of dishes is only half as high as it normally is,

The homework pile is no longer bigger than I am tall,

The to-do list is manageable,

Nothing's falling apart,

The world's not coming to an end,

I

Have

Everything

Under

Control.

How must He look at us now?

We think we know everything,

We think we have everything under control.

Is it like watching a child build a block tower that you know is going to fall?

Is it like watching a toddler stack up the rings and clap for finally getting them all to fit?

Does He laugh, lovingly, because we think we know so much,

But we really know so little?

For we are that child,

Doing all those silly things,

Trying to run before we can crawl.

Yet somehow He manages to love us anyway.

I prayed it last night,

"God, I'm probably going to get less than five hours of sleep tonight.

I need Your strength.

Help me get through tomorrow."

I prayed it again this morning,

After I actually managed to find the energy to get out of bed,

Even in time to read my Bible (!),

"God, I know I didn't get enough sleep last night,

And I have so much to do today.

So many people are depending on me

For so many hours.

Please give me strength.

I can't do this without you."

I actually tried it for once, for one small little thing,

Trusting Him when I honestly believe I could do perfectly fine on my own,

And, you know what?

Something crazy happened:

It worked.

I'm hardly tired at all.

Most Wednesdays, I'm so exhausted by 2:00 that all I want to do is nap,

But I feel like I could stay up 'til midnight and still be fine.

Isn't that cool?

It's like a revelation:

When we trust God and not ourselves,

Everything just goes so much better.

Of course, we should already know this,

But it is so easy to forget.

I have some new lyrics for you today.

I wrote them after Bible study

As an additional reminder,

Something to keep me from forgetting how much I need Him.

I'll probably manage to forget anyway.

Oh, well.

It was a nice thought, at least.

I'll just have to keep working on it.

Save Me from Myself

"I'm on the top,
 In control of everything.
No, I don't need You right now.
I'm doing fine.  Can't You see? 

I've got it all
Orchestrated perfectly,
And I am confident that it will
Run easily and smoothly. 

I'm in charge.
I've got all this stuff down.
You can come back when I need You,
But, for now, don't hang around." 

And I know I'll think this way
As long as I feel safe,
Then when just one thing falls,
I'll run straight into Your arms. 

It's like I have no direction.
All I've got's this foolish pride
And the desire to feed it -
That's what's killing me inside.

When did I stop believing
That I should love You in the sun
As much as I love You in the rain?

When did I start thinking
That I'm strong enough
To accomplish anything?

It's You in me
Who does it all,
For, on my own,
I know I would fall,

And still I ignore,
And still I take
All of the glory
That should go to Your name.

Well, God, I guess I will admit
That I'm not really in control of this.
I could use a little help.
Could You please save me from myself?

Yes, God.

That's what I need right now.

To be saved from myself.

Please help me.

 
Now let this encourage you!

Go live for Him and in Him every moment!

(Not just when you need Him.)

(Yeah.  Not easy.)

(I'll be struggling right there next to you.)

(Do it anyway.)

(It's worth it.)

The bold, italicized words are lyrics to the song "Save Me from Myself" by Mary Schieferstein, ©2011 Mary Schieferstein.

Linking up with Walk With Him Wednesdays at A Holy Experience today,
Because it really is all about walking with Him,
Especially when it's just as easy not to.


Check out these other awesome blogs also striving to walk with Him today!  (links at bottom of post)

  

Warning: This Book Not Available A La Carte

Be forewarned:  I am about to be brutally honest about the American church and American Christianity in general (yes, that includes me, though I fight so hard to break free of it, and no, I don't assume every church and every Christian is like this, it just seems to be the trend).


I talked to her this weekend.

It was a long conversation.

We talked about Christianity.

Aren't other religions really worshiping the same God we are?

What if Jesus wasn't fully human and fully God, only fully human?

Society asks these questions, too.

Does the Bible really say homosexuality is wrong?

Isn't the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament?

Honestly, I don't have all the answers,

But I know how I'd find the answers each of those questions.

I'd look in my Bible.

There's a verse I learned when I was in high school,

One that has been made very real to me in the past few years

As I struggle to understand everything going on in this world,

As I struggle to find truth in the confusion.

2 Timothy 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness[.]

"All Scripture is God-breathed."

Not "some",

Not "a little",

Not "most",

All.

(For anyone currently thinking of how we ended up with our 66 books of the Bible and everything that was left out, I fully admit to not knowing everything, but, to my understanding, the books that we have were the ones widely accepted as Scripture at the time, and I believe that the Holy Spirit helped the early Christians to discern which books were true Scripture and which ones were not.)

The problem is, the American church often doesn't preach - or act - as if 2 Timothy 3:16 existed.

I've sat through a sermon about how the Biblical versions of the Christmas story found in various gospel books couldn't possibly all be true.

I've never sat through a sermon about God instructing the Israelite army to slaughter entire peoples.

I've never even heard that read in church.

Why not?  It's in the Bible.

"Well, God is loving, so we want to be sure everyone understands how loving He is . . ."

Yes, that's true.

The problem is, God is not only loving.

God's love is just one aspect of His character.

He is also just.

There's a major issue when we only talking about certain aspects of God's character and we ignore the others:

When we do this, we are not worshiping God, but an idol.

We are making Him less than He is just so that our simple minds will be able to comprehend Him.

There's a problem with this, too.

He is too great for us to comprehend,

And, honestly, I don't want a God I can comprehend.

I want a God so big and great and awesome that I can't wrap my mind around Him.

No, that's not easy.

It's much simpler to imagine God as only loving and leave out His justice.

It's much simpler to imagine Jesus as only human and not also fully God.

It's much simpler to pretend the Holy Spirit doesn't exist.

It's much simpler to worship an idol than to worship the One True God.

Because it's easier to worship an idol and leave important things out (and because the church, consciously or not, tends to promote it), American Christians tend to want to take the Bible a la carte.

"Well, I don't believe that the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden actually happened.  That's just totally crazy."

"Well, I don't believe in the virgin birth because it's scientifically impossible."

"Well, I don't believe Jesus actually said this because it seems like He ends up contradicting Himself."

We intentionally put holes in the Word of God.

I am so guilty of this, too.

I didn't used to think that I needed to read the Bible.

After all, I went to church, I learned the stories.

That was what was important, right?

Wrong.

I was missing all the parts in between the famous stories,

I knew that Aaron made a golden calf and that God took those people back,

But I didn't know that some didn't return to Him and He instructed the ones who did come back to slaughter their idol-worshiping neighbors.

I knew that the disciples believed Christ would come back within their lifetimes,

But I didn't know that they believed that because He told them that some of them would still be alive when He returned.

We ignore these things because they're hard,

Because our idol-god is only loving and not just, 

Because we don't want to wrestle through the contradictions and find the answers.

(And it is possible to find many, though not all, of the answers.  I've found explanations for the "contradictions" I just mentioned through prayer, reading the Bible, and learning to understand God's true character.) 

We want this to be easy.

We want to understand everything.

The problem is, we just can't.

We often ignore passages of Scripture because they don't fit into today's society.

We want to fit into our cultures definition of "tolerant".

We think we can do this if we start believing that other faiths are also true.

We won't have to step out of our comfort zones to love people where they are.

We won't have to deal with society thinking we're weird (well, weirder than they already think we are).

The problem is, either the Bible's right or it's wrong.

If it's right, it blatantly contradicts other faiths.

That means that those faiths are wrong.

Of course, we can't actually say or acknowledge that, because our culture tells us to be "tolerant",

To accept every view as right.

"The Buddhist is right, the Hindu is right, the Muslim is right, the Christian is right, the atheist is right, . . ."

Either there is a God or there isn't.

Either there is one God or there are many gods.

Either salvation is achieved through works or given by grace.

Either the Bible is God's Word or it isn't.

There is no middle ground.

It's all or nothing.

Does this mean we can't/shouldn't be tolerant?

Of course not!

Look at Jesus!

Also, look at a more accurate definition of tolerance:

"Classical tolerance involves three elements: (1) permitting or allowing (2) a conduct or point of view one disagrees with (3) while respecting the person in the process." - Gregory Kokul

If we look at what tolerance is meant to be rather than what our culture defines tolerance as

We'll see that we can't be tolerant unless we disagree.

So, what do you think?

Is all of Scripture God-breathed,

His inerrant Word,

Worthy of our study,

Worthy of our belief,

Or is it what culture defines it as,

Just another book

With nice ideas,

But not any more true than any other?

It's all or nothing.

There is no middle ground.

Are you going to accept the whole Bible or are you going to reject the whole Bible?

I know I'm not a theologian.

I know I don't have all the answers.

I know I might be wrong,

But, honestly, I don't think I am,

Because I believe in God

And I believe in His Word -

All of it -

And I believe that His Word is clear on this matter.

We should start printing Bibles with a notice on the front:

"Warning:

This book not available a la carte. 

It's all or nothing. 

Take it or leave it." 

You can disagree with me if you want,

I promise I'll be tolerant,

But please don't disagree out of principle

Or out of your own thoughts.

Read your Bible.

Discover His Word for yourself.

Find your truth in Him, not this crazy, messed-up world we live in.

I hope you do search.

I hope you only accept as truth what really comes from Him,

Not what someone else claims comes from Him,

And I hope you discover that His word is alive,

Living, breathing, applicable to our daily lives,

And that it is whole and inerrant.

I know it's hard to read that way.

I know it's more than our limited minds can comprehend,

But I hope you try.

Please try.

(Thanks for putting up with my little tirade.

I know it's been awhile since I've written here.

Hopefully, though, I'll have time tomorrow.

It's Walk With Him Wednesday at my favorite blog,

And I'm hoping to join in with some new lyrics on that very topic,

Specifically, walking with Him when we think we have everything under control.

It'll probably be a short post, but after this, that's probably a good thing.

Thanks again!)


 

Silly Thing

I've felt very out of the loop lately

On something that's very important to me,

Something directly connected to my passion -

My passion for music,

For singing and playing

And using that to worship and glorify God.

It's been hard for me to be out of the loop

On something that's so important to me.

It makes me feel like there's favoritism going on

And I'm not the favorite,

Which is something I know I should learn to be okay with,

But that doesn't make it any easier.

(Besides, it's probably all in my head anyway.)

It makes me feel like all the people who tell me that I'm good -

That I have talent,

That my heart is in the right place,

Desiring the right things,

Following the desires God has placed in my heart,

Not my own desires -

Have been lying to me all along.

Maybe I'm not any good.

Maybe I'm really awful and no one wants to tell me because they think it'll hurt my feelings.

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.

It doesn't even make sense for me to think like that,

But the insecurities just get to me

And my overactive imagination only makes it worse.

So I end up being kind of upset,

Kind of hurt,

Yet trying hard not to be

Because it seems like such a silly thing.

Why should I be upset?

Sure, people are ignoring my passions.

It's not intentional.

I really shouldn't be upset.

It's silly for me to feel that way.

Totally illogical.

The problem is the logical part.

My heart's not logical.

Maybe it's a silly thing,

But it's how my heart feels when something I desire is kept from me,

And it's even worse because it's my passion,

And I am more sure now than ever before that it is a passion that comes from God.

I don't want to be upset.

It seems like a silly thing to be upset about.

I just can't help it.

Silly Thing

It seemed to him like a silly thing
When I met him downstairs at one in the morning,
Explaining that I could not sleep
'Cause I was afraid that my voice was beyond saving.

Now, logically, it makes no sense at all.
Why would a worry like that keep me up all night? 
And rationally it's hard to see
Why breath support and quality are matters of death or life.

It seemed to them like a silly thing
That I found their words so very interesting
That I grabbed a pen and started writing
Of where their words had led my thoughts to be.

Culturally, it seemed a little strange.
What is it that I would need to write?
And functionally it doesn't work the same
As a conversation with no literature in sight.

And who said it was a silly thing
For passion to guide the heart?
And who said that it is strange when we
Let our actions reflect who we are?

We're putting lies
Into the minds
Of the ones who'll shape the future.
We're encouraging
Others to think
They can't show who they are.

It seemed to me like a silly thing
When unexplained events made my heart start aching.
It felt like I'd failed to succeed
At one of two things that make my life worth living.

Objectively, it's an overreaction.
One missed thing is no reason to cry.
And, honestly, it's all imagination.
There simply are no facts explaining why.

Must be a silly thing.

Well, thank You, God, for all the people who notice,
Who listen to my fears so patiently,
And thank You, God, for these people who know me
And don't believe that it's a silly thing.

No, they don't think that it's a silly thing.

Related post:  What I Love


The bold, italicized words are the lyrics to the song "Silly Thing" by Mary Schieferstein, ©2011 Mary Schieferstein.