The past week has been extremely annoying to say the least. We found out that all the squads for this year’s Gap program will not be returning to campus for the final couple weeks of this semester. For myself and the rest of the Team Leaders this means we will not get to say goodbye to our teams and the squad because our time with them is over after the first part of the race.
So yeah, pretty sad, and this news of not returning has brought up some deeper rooted bitterness in me that I didn’t know I had. However, through the Father’s faithfulness, he has actually shown me where I have been sitting with him. “Where have you been sitting,” you ask? Well, I’ve been sitting in the driver’s seat, trying to steer my life where I thought God was taking me. But the Lord has shown me that where I sometimes think the Lord is going or doing, or when I get into my mind and try to map out what He is doing, I am actually just trying to take over the driver’s seat and not really trusting His will and path for me.
And it’s frustrating because I want to be in control; I want to steer my life where I want it to go even in my pursuit of the Lord. And well, that never really ends well, and I’ve seen where following my flesh gets me. (Galatians 5:19-21) So the Lord has revealed quite a bit in the past week about where I lack trust in Him and where I’m not letting him steer. He has shown me time and time again what fruit can be had when I put on my new nature, which is Christ, and live and walk a Spirit-led life. (Galatians 5:22-26) (Ephesians 4:24)
A lot of the time it’s not easy walking and trusting in the Lord and putting on our new nature, because we live in fleshly sinful bodies. But yet God is Faithful and just and true. He has given us all we need to live a new life, a life of faithful obedience, a life bought by the precious blood of Jesus, a life of radical all-out pursuit for the King.
So if you also have bitterness, I encourage you to lay it down at Jesus’s feet, for having bitterness in your heart leads to death. But having Hope and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ leads to life and freedom and peace and love. So lay it all down, and walk in faithful obedience. Bitterness has no place in the Kingdom of Heaven, so why should I let it have a place in my heart?
Blessings and Maranatha
~ Nathan
