"All By Myself"

Do you remember those moments when you were a little kid and you would try to get dressed in the morning? Then your mom comes into the room and tries to help you, but you tug away and yell, “No Mom, I can do it all by myself!” She then gently backs off and lets you struggle through it. This leads to a tangled mess where your left arm is in the head of your shirt and your head is stuck in a sleeve, and now you can’t see anything. After much consternation and frustration you give into your pride and yell again, but not the way you did a few moments before. It’s a plea, “MOOOOOMMMMM, I’m stuck!”

Mom then comes into the room and graciously, without saying a word, helps you put your clothes on.

I think that my relationship with God is a lot like this. I tend to think I know how to do things and I start doing them on my own, thinking that I don’t need God. And then I get tangled in my clothes and I’m pleading for God to get me out!

The beauty of this is that God never leaves us. I wrote half a song about 2 years ago that I have yet to finish, but here are a few lyrics that I constantly try to sing in my head…

I’m gone again

running from your presence

I’m gone again

but your present in my absence

Cuz you love me still

when I’ve gone against your will

when I’ve spit upon your face

you still cover me with grace

you love me still

Take it or leave it… those may be super cheesy lyrics, but they’re a good reminder for me that while I may be wanting to do things “all by myself,” God pursues me. He loves me still, and in the end, I’m able to surrender myself to Him because of His never-ending love.

I know that it’s not really that easy. Sometimes giving into God is like pulling teeth, or much worse. The Fray has a song called "All at Once" and one of the lines is "sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same". Its kind of like its easier to just pass God off and not care about what's right and wrong. But "sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same". 


I don't think being a Christian means life is going to be breezy.
Sometimes God’s will isn’t what we want in life. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to be happy; it’s just that he knows what’s best for us. Sometimes we need the trials to become who God has called us to be. Just like when we were little kids our moms wanted us to be well dressed, God wants us to be well dressed, but for greater things... To further his kingdom on earth!

And yet, God still lets us make our own decisions. Isn’t that cool?!? He is a loving and trusting God!

So next time you think to yourself, “I’m going to do this all by myself!” Think again my friend, you’re not, you’re going to do it with God, even if you don’t know it yet!