God as Our Source

Nobody starts strong in God. The maturity of our faith has less to do with how much time has passed since we were saved, and more to do with how much time has passed since we were saved that we've spent going deeper into the things of God. What does that even mean? What does it mean to have God as our source, and how does that affect our maturity as followers of Christ?

We have seasons of plenty, and we have seasons of need. We have times when it seems we're on top of the world, everything is going our way, and then times of trouble when our world is falling apart around us. But it is our heart response to God during each of those times that determines our blessing. Our culture promotes such romantic ideals about life, and when we embrace Christianity, we bring our romanticism with us. Our expectations are that once we choose God, we expect Heaven - we believe we'll be somehow automatically transformed, full of God; that once we've chosen God, he'll do all the work in us. But in reality, we're still angry, full of lust, drawn to the things of our flesh and at odds with each other, reacting at the wrongs inflicted on us. And just as the choice to choose God is ours and ours alone, the choice to pursue him is also.

Part of those idealistic expectations, we set upon each other as the body of Christ, when we receive those new in the faith. We teach them to cultivate their works for God to establish their place in the ranks of God's people. We take the bible stories of Jesus' life and his service to others and we try to apply it to ourselves. And those are biblical concepts; but without a growing intimacy with God, without an ever-increasing fascination with Jesus, we are doomed to fail. We serve out of an obligation placed on us by each other, or from a wrong paradigm that our salvation is related to our works - not from a place of overflowing joy inside from the love of Christ. And after a season, we drop like flies, burnt out, saying "I've served and served, now I want someone to serve me".

God's purpose in our lives is to expose our sin and weakness, not to promise us a perfect, easy life. But we're offended by that - we assume that because he wants us to be transformed that he'll just do it - with or without our help. And that is the conundrum that so many live in and struggle to get out of. And many of us resent God for that or think he's mean; "well if God loves me so much, why doesn't he just make everything better in my life; I'll serve him better when everything is as it should be" - and that is wrong. We do not have an accurate picture of how much sin and entitlement is in our hearts, how prone our flesh is to seek its own reward, how fleeting the days of our existence are. We truncate God's love for us to fit our own sphere of understanding of what love looks like to us, through our broken and selfish eyes. And when God acts in our life outside of what we feel those parameters of love should look like, we stop trusting him at the heart level.

But God knows that the only way to bring us closer to him is to reveal the sin and weakness that separates us from him. And all the seasons of plenty in our lives won't motivate us to seek him out; only in our pain and weakness and misery do we finally break down, after turning to everything BUT God and failing, and call out for him. And it is by seeing God as our source for everything that will empower us to walk through every season of life, abounding in joy. Happiness is not joy. Happiness is having your every whim fancied; it changes with the fading of color, the changing of weather, the smile or frown of another. It is fleeting, momentary, and satisfying only for a time, then it is gone. Our happiness is subject to the randomness of our universe, to the whims of our fickle associates, and to the temperament of our own desires.

Joy is a biblical term that refers to many different principles. Christ is the source of our joy; and tapped in deep enough, we are promised it as a wellspring that will flow for eternity through Christ to us. That means the attributes of Christ are available to us through his joy, not to wipe out our dissatisfaction but to calm our minds, steady our thoughts, bridle our tongues, heal our hearts and our bodies, and offer us peace and rest - regardless of our outward circumstances. That means when someone hurts us, the joy of Christ gives us power to forgive, to heal our wounds, and to reach out in love back to the person who hurt us. That means when our financial situation changes or we are stricken with illness, the joy of Christ gives us the power to heal, the strength of heart to weather the storm, and the assuredness of his hand holding us up during our crisis. When we understand God as our source, we have assuredness that his strength is mighty enough; that he is the source for every blessing in our lives. No boss or church leader can take away any favor he puts upon you, no family member can remove his love for you; and he promises that if you see him as your source, you will walk in confidence that his favor will be upon you in this life and the next in fullness.

God is our source. He's the source of our salvation, the source of our person, our talent, creativity, ability, life. He's the source of our strength, he gives us every breath; the power of his name casts out demons and moves the spirit realm at his command. But if you are looking for happiness instead of joy, you'll be disappointed and not understand how he's moving in your life and your intimacy with him will suffer. If you can completely accept in your heart that he is is perfect, that his ways are righteous, that he is always right, that he desires good and magnificent things for your life, and that his love for you is unfailing, then you are on your way to walking in his joy. In every moment of your life, believe him for full blessing - when it comes, bless him as the source; when it doesn't come, believe him for it anyway in the next breath and watch and see how your attitude, your heart, and your faith are transformed by his abounding joy.