Awe and Joy in Following in His Footsteps

Spring is alive today. The flowers are blooming and the grass is green. The birds have been out in force attacking the feeders. And with spring comes Easter, which now lies right around the corner.

I love the soft beauty of this time of year. At moments I find it to be nearly heavenly. But at the same time, some changes in my life leave me feeling a bit more uncertain about the future. It's a bit of a contrast that gets me thinking. Sometimes I wonder if the carefree happiness of spring should be our default setting, or if perhaps our normal mode should consist of longing and self-denial. Certainly circumstances create both of these things in the lives of most of us.

But how do we harmonize it? How can we be deeply joyful at all times yet perpetually have the proper demeanor of servants and pilgrims?

I think that the answer to this question is found in the holiday that is set within this time of year that excites such happiness as well as longing in me: Easter. After all, at Easter Christ was the ultimate Trailblazer. He procured our eternal joy, security, and purpose when He went to the cross - we are all familiar with that. It should in itself be sufficient inspiration to turn our lives upside down. But there is another lesson in Easter that strikes me. It is the sacrifice of Christ. He went so far as to endure physical torture that I can't even imagine, as well as the ultimate torment of the loss of the one thing that we've been told that apart from which we fall: the presence of the Father, all to accomplish God's perfect purposes for His glory and our good.

Now looking at that example, I realize what dirt I am in and of myself. Thank God that Christ hides my sin from the Father's face! But, oh, can you imagine if we were to follow Christ's example? Then we would find perfect joy in the offices of a servant. We'd understand how glorifying God and enjoying Him merge. And would that not be the most beautiful thing? Well, not quite. What is most beautiful is how He first loved us.

Will life be hard? Yes. Will there be uncertainty? Very likely. Can our lives be joyful and fulfilling, no matter how humble or hard they are? Absolutely, if they are lived because of Him and for His will to be done. Our Savior's cause is ours.

Letting Go

The other day I was at a talk, given by a Christian artist. She was comparing God's work throughout our lives to the creating of a portrait. In reference to this, she pointed us to Ephesians 2:10, which reads:

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

She keyed in on the first part of the verse: "we are His workmanship". God is making art in us, as He shapes who we are, and shapes our lives, for His purposes. This is indeed comforting to me! Much as I often feel out of control, God always holds and molds my life in His hands. It also challenges me to have a greater view of my life. Not bigger, not more "exciting", but greater-because I am the beloved art work of the Great Creator, intended to love and glorify Him!

So often, though, it can be hard to keep this vision-hard to take it into the "real world". So often I struggle to walk by faith, when walking by sight is so much easier! I want to see results in my life. I want to feel accepted by others. I want to do something "big" for God. Yet I feel "stuck". Why do I feel that way?

I think it's because I've forgotten what really matters. I've forgotten why I do what I do. It all comes down to who really holds the reins to my life. If I am immersed in the love of God, and His love floods my soul, then the natural outcome is that through my realization of my new identity, and deep desire after Him, I will want to do the works that He puts before me to do, will withhold from what He wants me to withhold from, and will wait when He tells me to wait. This is acting upon conviction. This is letting the Master Painter to His job.

So God is the reason. He is central. "In [His] light do we see light"-Psalm 36:9. Why does my life fall apart? Because I don't live that way. My life fails to make sense because it's like a sentence without a verb: I for you. What's "I for you" supposed to mean? It falls short of imparting much. But "I work for you" communicates very clearly. That sentence does something-and it makes sense. If we would have our lives be meaningful and purposeful, there is one thing we must have-God. And He is the only thing that we can't do without.

This means that we need to let go of everything else. Other focuses clog us up. Not to say that there is no place for other things in our lives, that the approval of others or future dreams are bad, or that we should only do something if God sends us a FedEx. It's the framework that we're talking about. Not only does God come first, but He's the one that makes everything else fit together. We obey His laws, we seek His glory, we focus on His priorities-we fall so deeply in love with Him that naturally our whole way of looking at life changes. As we delight in Him, His desires become our desires.

This is so beautiful-like a dream. We fall so far short. We blow it. Our failures are ever before us. What should we do? The apostle Paul struggled with this-he called himself the chief of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). But he was confident of his salvation in Christ, faithfully sought the aid of God, and strove to "run the race" for his King.

And what about when it's hard? God is with you as much when it's dark as when it's light; the darkness may just deceive you. But He is not hindered by the darkness, for it is as light to Him. We have to trust that everywhere He takes us, He takes us for a purpose. And if He doesn't take us somewhere, it's not because He missed something, but because you would miss something if He didn't have you right where you are. He is the Potter. We are the clay. He is the Painter. We wait eagerly until the day when we can stand by His side and see the finished project.

Yet, what if we believe all this, and yet just feel too weak...too weak to make it through? Cling to Him. Cry out to Him. His Spirit is given to aid us, and He binds up the broken. He empowers the weary.

"Even youths will faint and be weary...

But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength"

Isaiah 40:30-31

Rachel