When our soft underpinnings are stripped away, we learn what’s really holding us up. Pull the liners out of our shoes, and they hurt our feet. Lie on the box springs? Not on your life. Concrete floors? Give us carpet any day.
Yet, the cushioning that makes life comfortable can distract us from successful living. A sports car can’t maneuver around the track until we remove the cushy ride that gives us so much pleasure in our luxury boat. We have to have the stiff springs and harsh ride to be able feel the track.
Life walking with our Lord is the same. We want the cushy things. Friends, grandchildren, wall-to-wall, and weekend toys in the garage. Ski trips in March? Of course! New York for the weekend? How can life get any better?
Yet, somewhere in there, God senses we’re going off the track, and he needs to stiffen up our springs. He needs us to feel life’s track so we can make the next corner in his name.
It’s becoming barren before him that can bring our spiritual lives back under his control.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 speaks to the hope we have in the Lord:
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl…”
Becoming barren gives us focus. It helps us find God’s will once again. It removes the distractions that cushion us from the true words of God.
John 16:22 offers us God’s promise of relief:
“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
When everything is taken from us, that’s the time to point our faces toward God. When we find him again, he will return our joy unto us.
When life beats us up, let’s beat a path unto our almighty God.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.B.21.15.vp.esv
Originally Published in Hope on 4-24-15