The Roughriders and Life With God

Last week the Roughriders were (mercifully) eliminated from the playoffs.  The inevitable finally became a reality--they just weren't good enough this year.  Ahh, but there is always next year. . . .

Anyway, as I was thinking about the Riders' demise my thought wandered to the question of what a "full life" with God might look like.  I read a passage from Romans 8 this morning that talked about us living as "more than conquerors" and I wondered how all this fits together.

It seems to me that we live with this "tension" between having our eyes fixed on Jesus, living and receiving the fullness of life He wants to give us and living in this world with all its desires.  I find myself wanting my cake and eating it too.  I want everything God offers and everything the world offers too!  Something has to give.

It's just like the Riders:  when they still had a chance of getting into the playoffs, but were losing horribly, I found myself somewhat frustrated that the possibility was there but the present circumstance brought futility.  When the last loss put them out of the playoff picture it was as though a sense of relief came--no more struggle, no more tension.  It seemed better.

The same is true spiritually:  when we try to live in both worlds, the seeming possibilities of getting fed fully from both remain but we live in a state of frustration--something is wrong.  It's not until we die to ourselves and our desires to have everything the world offers that we begin to see more clearly what God is offering, and we can receive much more easily. 

Life with God, the full life that is talked about, relates to being more than conquerors:  God says that He is at work in all our circumstances doing good for those He loves--He loves His children very much!  But He is calling us to have Him be our number one and sole priority in life so that we don't live in the frustration of "trying to make the playoffs but failing miserably".

Maybe you are living in that tension of two worlds.  It's not a comfortable place to be, especially if it seems that there is no way out.  Let me tell you there is a way, but it is not one that is very attractive at first glance--after all, who wants to experience death?  We must die, we must be led through our dying, there are things in us that must perish in order for us to have eyes to see what life with God is really about.  You nor I can get there on our own--there is simply too much to overcome--too much to conquer.  But thankfully, we can trust God to be working on our behalf (Romans 8:28) to get us there.

The only real question that He is asking us is this:  "are you willing?"

BT