We spend a great deal of our time and energy attempting to create various areas of our life. We strive to create the ideal work environment in order to provide the necessary resources to create the ideal social and home life. We plan the details of our free time in hopes of creating the ideal leisure. We even go so far as working hard to create the ideal "religious" experience.
"Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture."Psalm 100:3
No amount of our own effort will ever create the "ideal." For if we are striving to create, we are chasing after the world's elusive, ever changing, false definition of what is really ideal and fulfilling. Our only hope at finding the true ideal is in understanding we are the created, not the Creator. The absolute best in life begins with knowing whose life we really live; "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" Galatians 2:20. Our life belongs to Christ, and it must be left with Him to create the life He desires.
Jesus is the only One who has ever truly been in the creation business; "All things were created by Him and for Him" Colossians 1:16. We were created by Jesus for His sovereign purpose; "We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand" Isaiah 64:8.
Somehow, we have begun to consider ourselves as the work of our own hands. We try to create a life according to the world's system and fulfill "needs" and "rights" based on this false world view. Not only is this self-centered world view wrong - not only does this value system pull our heart away from God and grieve the Holy Spirit as we fail to follow His leading - but it can also send us into bondage as we chase a lie which will never satisfy.
The truth that will set us free is that our needs are extremely small, and we actually have NO rights - at least not in this world; "You are not your own; you were bought at a price" 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. We have been purchased with the blood of Jesus and given eternal life as joint heirs with Christ in God's Kingdom. We have the right, the privilege, and the great honor of praising Him for all eternity. We need and deserve nothing more.
If we truly want the ideal, we will stop trying to create our life and place every area in the Hands of a loving Creator. God defines and shapes the ideal, and His ideal is ours for the asking. The ideal job, home, marriage, ministry, fun, and friends are all ours; but only through releasing our rights, redefining our needs, and humbly understanding that we are the created.
- steve troxel
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