When is it Time to Get Right?
We are in tumultuous times to say the least! I don’t know if it’s due to me being older & more risk averse…but if I look around outside my small realm - or listen to the news a little too long, I can get worried.
That brings me to a couple of thoughts - I know I’m not supposed to worry…I know the Bible teaches not to worry; God promises…not to be anxious - even don’t worry about what you will eat or drink…many more, in fact over 30 references I was able to find about NOT worrying in the Bible.
We can put on our courageous face & try our best but it still seems to sneak back in…especially in these times as a parent & reflecting into the future. You want better for them & I think that’s from where my worry lies these days. I worry as do many parents thinking about what our kids may face in their lifetimes.
But here’s where worry needs to give way to trust. Metaphorically where the rubber meets the road, right? In the book of Jeremiah we are promised that the man that trusts will be like a tree planted by the waters..Proverbs promises us that we need to trust God with all our hearts & not to lean unto our own understanding, that He will direct our paths.
When I was a kid there was a man in our area who felt led by God to go around putting up big white wooden signs that said in big bold, all caps letters “GET RIGHT WITH GOD”. I think it had a cross on in the middle too. He put them everywhere. And he was of small build, frail, older gentleman putting up these big signs. And these weren’t your little yard signs with the skinny metal pieces that just pop in the ground. I’m talking big, had to dig holes in the ground signs. So they really were big. And as a younger me I felt they were a bit looming, a bit “dooms-dayish”, because there was no ignoring them when you passed one. They were definitely attention getters.
I never thought about those signs much or what prompted him to be so driven in his calling on this odd mission. Until recently that is. So I had a couple of thoughts, did I just ignore those in all of my comings & goings back then? Was it on purpose or accidental that I just looked past them? I don’t even remember any of those signs convicting me to search my heart! But did I see them so often that they became like white noise, but in the visual sense, just blending into the scenery?
If I contemplate a bit, I believe that the thought was too scary, too intrusive into MY plan for my life to dare delve into the depths of my heart to even start thinking about what it meat to “GET RIGHT WITH GOD”…I think it sounded just too fire & brimstone to me at the time.
As I reflect on this now - What DOES it mean? There was something so imminent, so final in those words. They had a sense of doom attached - like something was going to end - like my life on Earth was going to end soon. Selfishly, I’m pretty sure that was my feeling. I didn’t want to think that way just yet, that I wasn’t ready to leave Earth, I’m not ready to go to Heaven yet! Lies of the devil I tell you - who wouldn’t want to live in Heaven??? This is a prime example of how deceived our kids can become. I know, it happened to me & if I thought about it long enough I could provide many more examples of deceitful thoughts slung into my head! I was being deceived just like the serpent deceived Eve in the Garden. Same game plan, executed in my head & my heart.
Now, on this side of my childhood, I get it. It’s not scary, it’s THE PLAN. I was probably scared because I wasn’t right with God. Maybe that sign made me realize what I was lacking in my Spiritual life. I was certainly having a conflict of interest conversation with my younger self back then.
My quest continues to get right with God. I think being right is a daily process of being close with God, that intimate level of a relationship He desires with us. For us to walk with Him to depend on Him to need.Him.like.oxygen.!
All of that would have certainly been too wordy on a sign, right? I think the sign fella knew that - he meant to grab our attention - he meant for me to pause, for all of us to pause. And maybe if not then but somewhere in the future that all those that read his warning would hit the reset button on our relationship with God. If there were those that didn’t have a relationship I feel certain he meant for them to become curious about seeking. I’m sure the signs have had many different effects on the people that have passed them. I hope so.
He’s been long gone to Heaven, but several of the signs still stand in my hometown & the surrounding areas. I don’t know if his family maintains them or they are standing by divine provision - but standing nonetheless to grab as many lukewarm hearts as possible - still a few to reach!
So, I think a sign that could follow his could be a simple equation:
GETTING RIGHT = NO WORRY - it is that simple friends. Seek Him.
The verses I referenced in the Bible, NIV translation today are:
1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all you anxiety on Him because he cares for you.
Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Jeremiah 17:7-8 - Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream
Let your quest begin today,
Blessings - Rhonda