| Poster | Thread | Joshh
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Joined: 2008/8/26
Posts: 62
| | Ever feel like you're going to blow it all? | | I don't mean by sin or growing cold. I mean like you see God moving in your life, putting things together for you, and yet you feel like you have to walk a tight rope or you'll wreck everything? Miss something by a day and everything God is building will come tumbling down?
I don't doubt God's ability or willingness; but I have no confidence in my ability to do much other then screw it up. |
|  2009/1/15 6:18 | Profile | LoveGodsWay2
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Joined: 2008/10/9
Posts: 143
Ohio, USA
| | Re: It's all about grace | | It's all about grace.
Consider Psalm 103:
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
And Hebrews 4:
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
He knows we are helpless & weak without Him.
The key is abiding in Him.
John 15:
1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. |
| | 2009/1/15 8:17 | Profile |
| | Re: Ever feel like you're going to blow it all? | | This is a great question... one which I have no answer except yea, I've been there.
Krispy |
| | 2009/1/15 9:09 | | Compton
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Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 2732
| | Re: Ever feel like you're going to blow it all? | | Quote:
you feel like you have to walk a tight rope or you'll wreck everything? Miss something by a day and everything God is building will come tumbling down?
So far in life you have managed to stay on the tight rope without falling off? That's an amazing achievement.
I hope you make it all the way to the other end of your rope. You would be the first, and that would be quite a legacy to leave to the world.
If your greatest fear comes to pass and you do ever slip off your rope, you can be comforted knowing that there are many great people down here waiting for you.
Good luck now. (Watch out for shearing winds at high altitudes.) ;-)
MC
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Mike Compton
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| | 2009/1/16 11:33 | Profile | AbideinHim
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Joined: 2006/11/26
Posts: 5185
Louisiana
| | Re: Ever feel like you're going to blow it all? | | Josh,
It is a good thing that you do not have any confidence in your own ability. Jesus Christ lives within you, and He wants to live His life through you.
Self cannot live the Christian life. That is why God crucified us with Christ. So that we would no longer strive to live the Christian life, which is impossilbe to do, but allow Christ to live His life through us.
Mike
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Mike
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| | 2009/1/16 17:17 | Profile | Compton
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Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 2732
| | Re: | | Quote:
It is a good thing that you do not have any confidence in your own ability.
The paradox is that I believe the dilemma with what Josh shared is that while he (we) might not have confidence in ourselves, we never the less feel it's all up to us anyways.
My particular post was a light hearted way of saying that trusting in Christ cannot be so fragile as to imagine we can wreck God's plan for us simply by not walking the line...so to speak. AW Pink addresses our tendency to form an impotent view of God quite forcefully. It might be worth reading his book on the sovereignty of God.
I had a friend once that drove himself crazy because he believed if he was spiritual enough to hear, God would tell him which pair of pants to put on in the morning. Needless to say, he was an anxious fella.
In my experience, once we develop a fear of failure, our only remedy is lot's of failure. It's kind of the way (edit: you make peace with a person you first had trouble with; you get to know them and discover some good, even beneficial aspects to their natures. :) As Josh said, his particular fear is not about sin, but about a belief that God is dependent on our abilities to complete his plan for us. This fear is based on an over estimation of our own role and and underestimation of Gods. Some worry they must place each of their footsteps according to God's precise prescribed dance step pattern for every moment of their lives or they will be off track regarding his perfect will for the remainder of their life.
Again, I believe the bible, and some experience teaches, that God is a little more in control of things then that.
I explain trusting in Christ like this to my own family...
The first time I traveled over seas it was to Sri Lanka. Having had no experience traveling overseas, I spent much time before hand planning my trip. I overpacked, over analyzed, and over worried.
Afterall, I told myself I was traveling thousands of miles!
But the day I boarded the airplane I discovered something kind of obvious. I was never personally responsible to travel thousands of miles to Sri Lanka---my only personal responsible was to travel a few miles to the airport. Once in the plane MY traveling was over, and now the pilot would convey me the other thousands of miles. All I had to do was to abide safely in the plane, which was rather easy since the door was locked. Remarkably, even though I only traveled a few miles to the airport, I somehow ended up in Sri Lanka the next day. The door I had entered in one country, opened up again and I stepped out into another country!:)
So my analogy should be fairly clear. Our job isn't to successfully travel our own unique cosmic trek to heaven, but to travel to Christ. He is a sturdy vessel that knows the way, and doesn't expect his passengers to worry about navigation like explorers with their own compasses and maps.
Blessings,
MC
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Mike Compton
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| | 2009/1/16 18:55 | Profile | Joshh
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Joined: 2008/8/26
Posts: 62
| | Re: | | It's not that I think it's ALL up to me, or us, but even if 1% is up to us and we do it wrong...and it all comes tumbling down. That is what worries me. |
| | 2009/1/16 19:01 | Profile | Compton
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Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 2732
| | Re: | | Josh,
What do you fear would come tumbling down?
MC
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Mike Compton
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| | 2009/1/16 19:03 | Profile | Joshh
Member
Joined: 2008/8/26
Posts: 62
| | Re: | | Anything God is trying to build. Career directions, relationships, anything. Again, I have no doubt in God's ability, but I doubt I can get much right. |
| | 2009/1/16 19:07 | Profile | Compton
Member
Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 2732
| | Re: | | OK.
How would you know if you wrecked God's plan?
To revisit my plane analogy. The first time I was traveled to Hong Kong I noticed on the GPS screen (provided on the television) that we were not going out over the pacific ocean like I had planned on doing. Instead we were traveling up the coast towards Canada. I was actually becoming a little concerned that we were off course! A few hours later confirmed my worst suspicions, that the plane was going the wrong direction.
Later I learned that I wasn't qualified to determine the best route to our destination across the ocean. I assumed a straight line was the shortest route. Yet, I later learned, that the globe is not a perfect ball, but is slightly squashed top to bottom. Thus the shorter route to Asia is an arched path up and over the flatter circumference of the globe, not a straight path across the fatter equator.
On another trip I remember some incredible teeth rattling turbulence. Once again I assumed that things were out of control. And once again I was informed that the pilots knew about the turbulence and intended on flying through to save time. In fact, I was told that the plane was built to withstand much more turbulence then what we were experiencing that night.
In Christ you will arrive safely my friend.
MC
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Mike Compton
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| | 2009/1/16 19:12 | Profile |
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