Sometimes your life is on a roll - everything you do seems to produce positive results, sometimes even better than you "deserve."  At other times, however, you work and you pray and you do what you can, but it seems all in vain - there are little or no positive results for your hard labor.  These different seasons both have challenges, but their primary challenge is common to both. Good times and bad times can both serve as temptations to divert your attention from your primary relationship with the Lord.

When things go well, we have a tendency to focus on the fruit of our labor and on our own sense of competence.  We are tempted to hold workshops to share with others how they, too, can become as effective as we have been.  This focus on ourselves can lead us to lose our sense of thankfulness to the Lord; and before we know it, we may feel disconnected from Him.  In Deuteronomy 8, Moses warns Israel of the impending temptations that will come from their fruitful living - they will be tempted to think it was their hands alone that produced their wealth.  He reminds them, however, that it is the Lord their God who gives them their abilities, and their proper and healthy response is thanks and praise.

On the other hand, when our prayers seem to go unanswered and our efforts come up empty, hopelessness crouches at the doors of our hearts.  We are tempted to think that God doesn't care for us, or that He won't meet our needs or make us bountiful.  When we get fixated on results and cause and effect, we easily lose track of what is most important - our personal bond with God.

Circumstances, output and results are sometimes the framework of life, but they are not life itself.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life ..." (John 14:6)  Life is not in the circumstances, it's in the relationship.  When we receive this life, we must build our lives upon it.  Every circumstance - good or bad - becomes an opportunity to relate to God in a fresh way.  Jeremiah was able to experience the fresh compassions of God every morning, even while his city was under attack and starvation was setting in. (Lamentations 3:22-26)  Habakkuk wrote, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen an no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." (Habakkuk 3:17-18) He understood that His life was in the Lord.

Whether we are outwardly wasting away or prospering, we must not lose heart - we must not lose our intimacy with Jesus.  We must guard our hearts, for they are the wellspring our lives. (Proverbs 4:23)  Whether we are on a roll, or whether we are being pressed on every side (2 Corinthians 4:7), let's make time each day to renew our relationship with Jesus.

Being Renewed with you,

Pastor Tom

tgriffith@rolcboston.org