Not Thinking
By design, when we are born, we are at the mercy of those around us to provide for our needs. We rely on others to teach us about the world. God wants us to learn the importance of caring for one another through example; to teach us about selfless love.
However, this lesson often gets overlooked. Many Mom’s would say they feel taken for granted for all the sacrifices they make for their children or husbands. Children will share stories of how they didn’t feel their needs were met or that they weren’t taught the ‘right’ things in order to succeed in life. You could poll a million people and you’d get a million different answers ranging from regret, blame and resentfulness to gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness.
Overall, our first experiences are of love and sacrifice, but they quickly give into the ways of the world. The need for money requires us to have a job so we can pay the bills. By no fault of their own, our parents teach us lessons they didn’t plan to teach us about letting the world determine our worth or be the source of our unhappiness. We learn unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with stress and anxiety. And sometimes we learn the way to get what we want is to lie, cheat and steal.
These are not the lessons God intends for us but unfortunately they are ones we can we get. These lessons lead us to having to make mistakes, fail and cause us trouble along the way. The world supports these lessons too by tempting us to buy this product to solve that problem or to lure us into bad decisions with money, alcohol or relationships. The phrase being tossed around these days to describe the state of the world is that it’s a Dumpster Fire.
However, the way of the world is not the only path we can take. Sometimes we have blinders on and can only see more havoc and chaos. This is what is often referred to as ‘rock bottom’, the moment in our lives when we feel the lowest of lows and we can’t see our way out of the situation or problem in front of us. This is the moment we ‘find God’.
The reality is that God didn’t need to be found. We needed to find ourselves. We needed to remember where we came from and learn more about the purpose for which we were created. It’s only when we choose to turn toward God that we begin to see God’s ways more clearly.
This relationship is similar to any other relationship. To know of Jesus is comparable to knowing the name of your dentist. You know where to find him when you need him, but you don’t have a personal relationship. To know Jesus is a process. It’s like going on a series of dates where you spend time getting to know one another slowly, allowing the relationship to deepen and trust to grow.
I can tell you from personal experience I’m still learning new things about my husband after 27 years AND discovering new things about Jesus too! I intentionally make time to nurture and grow the connection; more time equals me recognizing Jesus’ voice and hearing it more clearly. Practice makes perfect, so the more I practice, the more quickly I can default to God’s ways.
The Disciples spent a lot of time with Jesus, so one might argue, “why did Jesus tell Peter to step aside?” I believe it is not because Peter didn’t know that Jesus was the Messiah or the Son of God. I believe it was because Peter didn’t want Jesus, someone he loved deeply to have to endure what Jesus was telling them he would need to endure. Peter knew the scripture as well as Jesus and thus knew what needed to happen for the scripture to be fulfilled. None of us want someone we love to be crucified.
It happened anyways. Jesus came to save the world, that was his mission and purpose. His journey was set into motion before Jesus was born. This is not unlike our own journey. We each have a mission and purpose for which we have been created by God to fulfill. Despite the temptations of the world, we can seek God and find this purpose. It takes commitment. It takes dedication. It takes sacrifice. This is why one way we prepare ourselves for the journey is to follow in Jesus’ footsteps because he’s been there and done that. Plus, who better to teach us how God thinks than is only Son, Jesus!
