Try not.
Do, or do not.
There is no try.
Often I’d like to think that my God just looks at me through love colored glasses, and smiles at all of my antics. In fact, I BELIEVE that he does look at me like that. My view of my Abba Father has transformed into this view of a loving, encouraging father who wants me to make those first baby steps. He delights in my successes, and wants to comfort me in my failures.
It is cute to see a baby learn to walk. They are just so wobbly and adorable. However, it is not quite so adorable to see a 10 year old wobble and fall all the time; it is actually quite sad. As babies learn to walk and become more confident with every step, so Christians also need to learn to walk! I have been guilty of keeping myself in toddler faith. At some point it is time to start walking in confidence and stop cushioning myself for the fall. To put it simply- I’m either walking, or I am not.
I have been thinking this over for a a few days now. I don’t like it, but it is true. I am either producing fruit, or I am not. I am changing a life, or I am not. I am planting a seed, or I am not. I am doing something great for the Kingdom, or I am not.
I’m not normally an abosolutes type of person, but I really think that Jesus could agree with Yoda! He told us that if we were lukewarm, we would be SPIT OUT OF HIS MOUTH!! To me, being lukewarm is kind of like trying. We are either hot or cold. We are either doing something for Him, or we are not. This is kind of a mind-blowing truth for me right about now. I always pride myself on “trying”. The truth is – you can’t TRY to get saved. You either accept Jesus, or you don’t. It really is that simple. You get no points for “trying” to pray with someone. You either do it, or you don’t. This stinks for me because I often get caught up in FEAR and then pat myself on the back for “trying”. I figure that I’ll do better next time and I excuse myself for the failure.
Try not.
Do, or do not.
There is no try.
This makes me think about faith. There are undoubtedly different levels of faith. However, when it comes to a specific action – we either have faith for it, or we don’t. Jesus said that if we have faith, we could tell a mountain to move and it will move. Just think about that for a second. Our faith can MOVE MOUNTAINS!! Peter walked on water….because he had FAITH! What?? Is it really that powerful? The answer is YES!! I believe that great acts of faith produce great fruits for the Kingdom.
When I pray, I often “hope” that God will move because of my prayers. Many times I have faith for small things, but not for big things. When I pray for something – I either have faith that God will move, or I don’t.
On the World Race, I assume there will be MANY forks in the road. I will be faced with many choices. The easy, comfortable side probably won’t produce much fruit. The difficult side that will bust me out of my comfort zone will most likely require great faith and possibly produce great fruit. Do, or do not. There is a choice. When I was at training camp, I told myself and God that I ALWAYS wanted to choose Him.
Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches. We have to be connected to Him to produce fruit. We can live and be green for a little while after being cut off, but will never produce lasting fruit. I’m either connected, or I’m not. I’m either bearing fruit, or I’m not. I’m either loving people, or I am not. I’m either showing Jesus, or I am not.
That being said – Jesus loves me NO MATTER WHAT! He delights in me. He laughs with me. He cries with me. He LOVES ME!! I can do nothing to earn His love; therefore I can do nothing to lose His love. This fact brings SO MUCH FREEDOM for me! I don’t have to worry about doing the wrong thing. I either do, or do not. He LOVES it when I do. But he loves me anyway when I do not.
Paul says that at some point we have to put away childish things. It is time to grow up in my faith. It is time to stop “trying” to walk, and to just start walking in faith and confidence. The fact that my amazing God loves me no matter what I do gives me the confidence to step out in faith. I am tired of living with baby faith!!
I want to remember this when I am out on the field. I want to think – well, I can either do something for God right now, or I can just be a friendly traveller. I want to think – either I have faith that this person will be healed, or I don’t.
Training camp was such an amazing experience for me. I can either leave it at that, or I can practice what I’ve learned. I’m finding that my faith really is quite young and I am finding myself eager and desperate to grow. Our culture thrives on destroying absolutes. But in our faith, there HAS to be absolutes. Jesus IS the only way. The absolute that just HIT me in the face was that I can’t “try” to do work for Jesus. When I go out there on the field, I will either produce fruit for the Kingdom, or I will not. Well, I want to produce!!
