I'm a recovering sinner. I've known this for 34 years now, and I'm reminded of it almost every day. This Love Dare project has been a good source of reminders of how shriveled, warped, and leaky my love is. Even my good intentions get derailed seemingly at the puff of the slightest breeze. At times, it resembles a disaster!
Today was much better than yesterday. I took time for other people instead of just looking out for my own needs, and that is certainly progress! But my good determination won't be enough to keep me going. I know how desperately I need a power greater than me to maintain any kind of love that will "excel still more," as Paul urges in 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10.
But I have a plan for addressing my tendency to underperform, and surprisingly, it's the same plan my favorite cartoon character uses to address his foibles (which are many, by the way). He calls it his 'Disaster Recovery Plan.' Not a bad name to describe how sin has devastated our lives and causes us to achieve so much less than we dream of accomplishing. So how do we respond? We activate our Disaster Recovery Plan, and we cry out to God for help!
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble," God says, "I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me" (Psalm 50:15). I think the cry for help is the most basic of all prayers. It acknowledges our belief in a God who is there (Hebrews 11:6), it admits our need for a power and a wisdom greater than ours, and it doesn't try to suggest to God what He should do to fix our life. It just cries out, "Help!"
That's not a bad way to start each day. - or even to close one. I think I'll try it right now, and see what God has in mind for me in the hours and days to come. I'm not afraid of what He might do. He's the one who's making me into who I'm supposed to be! "God, help me!"
Today was much better than yesterday. I took time for other people instead of just looking out for my own needs, and that is certainly progress! But my good determination won't be enough to keep me going. I know how desperately I need a power greater than me to maintain any kind of love that will "excel still more," as Paul urges in 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10.
But I have a plan for addressing my tendency to underperform, and surprisingly, it's the same plan my favorite cartoon character uses to address his foibles (which are many, by the way). He calls it his 'Disaster Recovery Plan.' Not a bad name to describe how sin has devastated our lives and causes us to achieve so much less than we dream of accomplishing. So how do we respond? We activate our Disaster Recovery Plan, and we cry out to God for help! "Call upon Me in the day of trouble," God says, "I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me" (Psalm 50:15). I think the cry for help is the most basic of all prayers. It acknowledges our belief in a God who is there (Hebrews 11:6), it admits our need for a power and a wisdom greater than ours, and it doesn't try to suggest to God what He should do to fix our life. It just cries out, "Help!"
That's not a bad way to start each day. - or even to close one. I think I'll try it right now, and see what God has in mind for me in the hours and days to come. I'm not afraid of what He might do. He's the one who's making me into who I'm supposed to be! "God, help me!"
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