Living Untethered: Relinquishing Control to God

Have you ever known what God wants you to do but you just do not want to do it? Of course, you have! That is a rhetorical question. Have you ever thought about Jesus going through that same struggle? We know the scriptures say that Jesus was tempted in all the same ways we have been or will be. “ Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. ” ( Hebrews 2:18 , NLT) “ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ” ( Hebrews 4:15 , NLT) Do we actually believe this? I’m quite sure many of us have said, “Well, Jesus was God, it was easy for him to obey.” As soon as we say this, we are in effect saying that we don’t believe Jesus was fully human, like us. It’s a sort of excuse for our poor behaviour. If you read the gospels (first 4 books of the New Testament) you will very quickly notice that Jesus often says, “I do only that which my Father tells me t...

“ Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord . And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” ” ( Mark 12:29–31 , NLT)   Every time I see an old threshing machine (a story for another day), I am reminded of the miraculous healing God brought to my heart many years ago. That launched me onto a path of glorious discovery of God’s ever-present love. I can look back at troublesome times and see his hand at work, his presence right there with me, tenderly encouraging me to keep going. The love in his eyes and in his voice overwhelms me. The command to love the Lord your God with  all your heart, etc. is not some demand from a selfish tyrant God. It is a command to open our eyes, look around us and become aware of all the ways he...