What Are We Holding On To?

It seems as though, apart from Christ, everything I've touched and hoped for, has been elusive. It is as though I've trekked so very far, for so very long, I finally get to what I think is my destination, it is within my grasp...then it turns to dust. I am then left empty, worn, and discouraged...and I no longer see the hope or the point in my relentless pursuit of happiness. It's like seeing an oasis in the midst of the dry, unmerciful desert, yet it is only an illusion due to your immense desire to satisfy your thirst.

We fail to see reality, when we are focused on the immediate desire. We fail to see the entire picture and perhaps even a more feasible means for coping and surviving. We are powerless against the unkind surprises of life. And we will continue to become despairing as long as we fight alone...apart from the clarity, provision, and enlightenment of God through Christ. We'll keep trekking the merciless desert, in a circle of insanity, grasping for the same things, with the same disappointing, unfulfilling results. Sound familiar? Yeah, and it’s been happening for thousands of years. Think of the Israelites and their trek in the wilderness for 40 years, when it was only an 11 day trip!

 The only sure thing I can hold onto, the only thing I know that is Rock-solid, is Christ. Everything else...like grains of sand...has slipped through my hands... and has ceased to be. What a waste of precious time. What a waste of life and purpose.

 My focus must always be on Jesus Christ, because I become desperate in hunger and thirst and for a salve for my pain. And nothing in this hell-hole of a world can save me or attend to my deepest needs. In fact, my choices have always added to the mayhem and made it unbearable. Outside of His love and presence we will always be looking for ways to cope.  Yes we have human needs and God knows all about them. But we don’t know exactly what we need. We THINK we do, but we don’t. All we have to do is take a look back at our track records. When we place everything into the hands of the One who KNOWS  all and IS all, we get all that we need and more, just not always in the form we expect it to be in. That’s just it! Satan always makes us think, that God is not sufficient that He is not faithful and that He can’t give us what we long for. He’s always waiting there with an alternate answer, one that goes against the very grain of who God is and the Truth that sets us free. And when we accept his suggestion over God’s we get the opposite of freedom. That’s right, we get chains and we become entangled in our circumstances. The enemy of our souls tells us that God is restricting and withholds our freedom to do what we want and what we feel. But you see, that is an obvious deception. Because if you KNOW GOD you KNOW that is NOT who He is or HOW He operates. God is ALL about freedom and has given us specific instructions on how to receive it and retain it. It’s just that it doesn’t normally comply with our understanding of what that means. That is why Proverbs tells us to NOT to lean on our own understanding  but to TRUST in GOD alone (Proverbs 3:5-7). 

God is always faithful to answer us and to guide us in His perfect timing. He is the one that set the universe in place and He is the one that determines its course. I think we can feel more than confident in placing our lives in His hands and let Him navigate the course. It is only when we become prideful and arrogantly self-efficient that we end up in confusion, pain and suffering.

The whole book of Ecclesiastes was about Solomon’s retrospective view of his life, how he lived it, and what he should have and should not have done. Solomon had women, riches, power, fame, wisdom, EVERYTHING you could think of, and his conclusion was that it was all foolishness. He wrote it under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in hopes of us not making the same mistakes. It’s not wrong to desire things, but when we pursue pleasures, things and people INSTEAD of God, that’s idol worship and those things cannot completely satisfy us or save us from the hell of this life or the next. 

I think of a part from the movie “Constantine” when the priest is under a great illusion from the devil, as he was a recovering alcoholic, and he walks into a liquor store, and grabs all these bottles of alcohol, and as he tries to consume them, it has already consumed him. The bottles all seemed to be empty, but in reality, he was intoxicating himself to the point of death. It’s deep and thought provoking.  I hate when I long for certain things because I know it’s needless compared to knowing Christ. Even Paul said that he counted everything he ever lost or gave up as “dung” yes, “CRAP” compared to the excellence of knowing Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:8). And until you do, you never even realize that you are satisfied with CRAP!  

Let’s face it; we’ve all been lied to; every…single…one of us. Thankfully we have Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to see things as they really are. And yeah, the process of first understanding that you’ve been duped is not always easy to swallow, but you get mad enough to want to do what’s right. I know I’ve taken a beating over the years, because I kept “drinking” from those supposed “empty bottles” and all the while I was really filling myself up with deadly, toxic things. It was insatiable and I went wherever my emotions and desires took me, with the exception of some moralistic decisions, and somewhat self-restraint. But mostly, yes, I was a slave to the master of sin and it wreaked hell and havoc on my mind, body, spirit and soul. I mean, did I really think the ruler of evil would produce for me heavenly/godly results?! Unfortunately, yes. And yes, I was foolish and ignorant to think so. You reap what you sow. (Galatians 6:8)

BUT GOD saved this wretch and I am a changed woman today, ya’ll. BELIEVE IT! Because I am sayin’….there is a reason that I never want to resurrect the “old me” and what she stood for. That woman was dead, lost, and without hope.

Today I stand tall, strong and firm, no longer in the fetal position of pain. I have greater strength, clarity, wisdom, understanding, insight, and I am healed, I am delivered, and I know how to truly love today, and receive love, by the grace of my awesome, loving God. He has changed this heart of mine and my life. Today, I am able to help others and minister to others in ways I NEVER thought possible. My mess is now my message and God is in the business of recycling! Hallelujah!  

What is it that you keep reaching for that you just can’t touch? That you can’t hold onto long enough? Is it peace? Is it sobriety? Is it security? Is it self-acceptance? Is it love? All those things and more are not found in whatever you’ve been diving into, my dear friends. It is only found in Jesus Christ. You don’t have to believe me, but the truth speaks for itself, as it has in my own life, a living testimony to His greatness. You’ve been looking in all of the wrong places. That is why you keep getting the same undesirable results.  So why don’t you respond to His gift of Salvation, an invitation to come as you are and never leave the same? You’ve done tried everything else, right? I can’t make you take the “medicine” that is going to heal you, brothers and sisters; I can only tell you where to go and get it.

 

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17)

Jesus answered, “It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of. (Matthew 4:4)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
(Luke 21:33)
(Matthew 24:35)
(Mark 13:31)