When I was younger, I had a very broken philosophy regarding my walk with God.
Perhaps, this was partly because of what I was taught, and additionally due to my belief around who I thought God was. You see, I came to God because of fear. I was in High School at the time and a friend told me about something called the “Rapture.” She said Jesus was going to come and take His people out of the earth and those who were left behind would be tormented by demons coming out of the sink and everywhere else.
“Wait, what???” I thought. I wanted to know what I needed to do to be saved.
Back then I didn’t have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and truthfully, I didn’t want to have one. My idea was to record albums, get Grammy's and sing in high level clubs. Well, at least that’s what I thought. I soon discovered God had another plan and it was nothing like mine. So, I went with her to church, and I had an experience with God that changed my life. He touched me. I felt His presence and that was the day I knew, “God was real.”
Instead of singing in clubs, I started singing to those who were incarcerated. I sang in hospitals and nursing homes. I sang in shelters, because I wanted people to know they were special, and their temporary struggles had nothing to do with their worth.
The Lord is not like man, He doesn’t despise us because we have suffered loss. He sees us for who we are and who we will become. As we trust in His power He loves us back to life. I really do believe God has a sense of humor. He turned my plans completely around, and I am so glad He did.
Back then I had a very skewed vision of God. I thought I had to prove myself to Him by being “good” and trying to get everything right. I struggled because I thought I had to be perfect and that if I “messed up” God would “get me.” But God was not looking for me to be perfect. I couldn’t be perfect without Him anyway.
God was looking for me to accept the position of a daughter. His daughter. I was adopted into a New and Royal family when I accepted Him into my heart. I discovered my aim was to trust Him, to love Him and to believe Him for everything. He did not want me to strive in my love and to make it happen, but to rest in the sacrifice of the cross.
Here’s what I’ve learned. There is no way we can fully please God in our human strength. It’s just not humanely possible. Even on a good day the bible says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. – Isaiah 64:6
It takes God to be righteous. So, what does this mean, that even in moments of imperfection we can still hope, pray, and believe that God still cares. This does not mean we don’t have a responsibility to follow His Word and submit our lives to Him.
We must repent and turn away from willfully engaging in sin. It means when make mistakes and miss the mark we can bow ourselves before God, repent and pray for Him to cleanse us.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know “ – 1 John 3:1
This walk takes faith. We must believe God is covering us every single day of our lives and that even in the imperfect moments, He is still faithful. God is able to take you from glory to glory and faith to faith.
Trust God like never before. Build up your relationship with Him. Let the Lord be your best friend, because when it all comes down to it, God is truly all that truly matters.