Since I have been with my current employer, it has been quite a rollercoaster ride. I have been challenged more than I have ever been before. It isn't that I'm not smart enough to do the job but I know that I am not as smart as I think I am. There are some days when I feel like I’m finally figuring things out but the very next day I encounter things which knock me completely back. I go from an attitude that “I’ve got this” to one the “I don’t got this at all.”
What about our lives? Have we got this?
If we were really honest with ourselves, the painful truth is that we aren’t as smart as we think we are. Even the Bible tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) This means that we can think we are smart but let me tell you that none of us have it all figured out. We sometimes deceive ourselves that we do.
What we think and believe also has a lot to do with our motivation. I have known people in the ministry who have claimed to have a “calling” on their life and will SAY that they want to minister to people but - in reality - their motivation is to make a name for themselves. Of course, we have known many that their motivation has been money. What is our motivation? Is the motivation about what we know or what we want to know?
Recently I had to think about my writing. I had to ask myself - what is my motivation for writing? I want to think that I write to inspire others yet sometimes I feel the urge to write a blog or post directed at someone or target my indignation at an issue. That isn’t proper motivation and that’s not what I want it to be. It should never be my motivation to respond to my critics. This isn’t a debate competition, it is a spiritual battle. We have to be sure we know what we know for the right reasons.
Our mind likes to convince us that we are doing one thing but we are actually doing something else. That’s what Jeremiah 17:9 tells us about our heart. This doesn’t mean our physical heart but the core truth about us. I think it is important that we make it a regular practice of taking time to examine ourselves and our motives. Some would call it “finding ourselves”. That’s a good way of putting it. Sometimes we lose ourselves and why we are doing things that we are doing. No, we are always as smart as we think we are but we aren’t dummies either. The free will that we have to make choices is a huge responsibility that we shouldn’t take lightly. Proverbs 14:12 cautions us that “There is a way that appears to be right but in the end it leads to death.” Now that is a sobering thought about our free will isn’t it?
In this time where we can get bombarded with so many sources of information, we have to discern the source of the information. I have said many times that today you can get information to support anything that you feel is right. I think we rely too much on social media for our information. It is a sad thing that today so many discredit the Bible but will quickly cling to an influencer on social media.
Think about it for a minute.
How do you know what you believe is right?
What are the sources you consult to support what you believe?
We all have to understand that our eternity depends on this. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.” Our education and knowledge alone isn't going to sustain us.
In the world of so many paths, it is imperative that we find the right one. Nobody wants to believe that today. We have to make sure that we place our hope in the right place. Why is it so easy for us to believe the latest thing that is going viral but when someone talks about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that we cringe. What is it about Jesus that makes us feel so uncomfortable. I think we unfairly judge Jesus based on the Christians who claim to be believers in Christ but their actions speak of anger and hate. That's not Jesus.
The only way we have "got this" is in placing our faith in Jesus Christ. The Amplified Version of the Bible says "Casting all your cares {all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]." (1 Peter 5:7)
