Being an adult comes with responsibilities and character we could never have imagined when we first believed.
Hebrews 12:12-14 “Therefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not become worse, but rather be healed”.
Many years ago while living in Charlotte N.C., i stood alone in the dark on my back porch, weeping before the Lord asking, “Why, oh why, am i always in the midst of a problem, always seeming to have a hard time, running against the wind, feeling like i’m continually in the middle of some dilemma? Why? My mind and heart are tired!” As i stood there listening to the wind in the tree tops, quietly sobbing, tears of frustration running off my chin, the Lord gently spoke to me and said, “Most of the time it’s the only time you come to me palms up.”
i wasn’t in sin. i wasn’t aware of any gross error or unbelief. i even repented of things i’d never thought of in case there was something i missed. But yet, things remained the same. You know, when you’re in the middle of a miracle, most of the time it doesn’t look like much of a miracle. God was changing my heart but it sure didn’t feel like it. Looking back i realize i was practicing “self-cannibalization”, blaming myself for everything bad or wrong, calling myself names in the mirror, regret and remorse had come to visit, but now they don’t want to leave. A “root of bitterness” was growing, entwining itself around my feet, fertilized by self-loathing, watered by disappointment and frustration. God’s intent was for me to grow up and believe Him.
Matthew 22:39, “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.” How do i love myself; in what fashion? Let us exactly take note of the words of Jesus, “love your neighbor as you love yourself” not “loathe your neighbor as you loathe yourself”. We all know that’s what He said, but underneath our declarations of understanding, we still maintain the attitude which says, “If i were God, i wouldn’t like me either.” Jesus said, “love”, not “loathe”. If we’ll loathe ourselves chances are very high we will also loathe our neighbor. Our glorious God does indeed love us, but the things that were funny when we were 3 years old will get our hide tanned when we are 10. We laugh at jokes, but honestly, if we really think about it, we’re typically laughing at someone else’s misfortune. i wonder if maybe in all things which we find funny at someone else’s expense, don’t have some root of bitterness in own heart. Our God desires we grow up and be mature believers, rightly dividing the word of truth (1 Timothy 2:15), being strong in His Name and in the power of His might (Eph6:10), comforting others in all their suffering, since we ourselves are being comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:4). It is very difficult to be mature when we are busy condemning ourselves in the mirror.
In Hebrews 12:13, the translators used the words “turned out of the way”, but a better picture is more than just on the wrong path, but more in a medical sense, as in someone with a dislocated arm or leg. Our God is growing us into people who are willing to have the necessary honest conversation with ourselves and our friends which, by the very nature of honesty, makes straight paths for our feet and puts back in joint that which has become dislocated. Be in Christ mature believers who in character and life resemble God who brought us out, sharing His attributes with us as children resemble their parents. Let us walk as mature believers who are governed by the Spirit of God and live at rest in His righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17).
The truth is, i believe many, many people have a poor perspective of themselves. As our conscience looks back at us from the mirror in our homes, let us bless, not curse, ourselves in that mirror, telling ourselves the truth with kindness and grace but also reminding ourselves to whom we belong for the strengthening of our tired arms and the confirmation of our feeble knees, stirring up love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). Be strong and courageous! That is a prophetic declaration, one of “has become” and “is becoming”. Be strong and courageous!
1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.…”