Falling or Diving

Do you sometimes feel that you have no purpose in life, that you can’t be used by God? The reason you probably feel that way is because maybe your mind is never really 100% focused on God and his direction for your life. Trust me, this world has many things that distract our focus but God is always there to redirect us when we have sunk. We read in Matthew 14: 28-30 that Peter was able to walk on the water but as soon as he felt afraid and lost focus of Jesus, he began to sink. Often times we feel that there is no hope after we lose focus but that is a selfish lie that Satan continues to put in your mind. As a Christian we know that hearing about Peter on the water, we come to the realization that Jesus is not blind or ever removed from our struggle in life. If you continue on the passage you see the hope Jesus gives us in Matthew 14: 31, which says: Jesus immediately pulled up Peter from the waters and questioned his faith and doubt. We should expect God to question our faith when we mess up but we should also know that He is always there and he is always everything that we need. If we can do that and stop beating ourselves up when mistakes happen and lean on him in repentance and guidance, we can be stronger to move forward. Faith requires focus, so when times are tough focus on the one who will always lift you up in truth, in doing this, miracles will happen to those that step out in faith. Romans 3:23 says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone! Does that give you the excuse as a Christian to sin, no it doesn’t but it does mean that you may sin at times because we are not perfect but as a Christian and follower of Jesus it will change the way you sin.

Let me give you an example: You are at a friend’s house hanging out around a pool, the pool represents sin, you are fully clothed and your expensive phone is in your jean pocket. All of a sudden, someone shoves you into the pool (sin). At this time, you have “fallen into sin.” Your immediate reaction is to get out as fast as you can because of the expensive cell phone in your pocket and that you were not prepared to be in the pool because you are fully clothed. Now let me put it another way, you go to the same friend’s house and get dressed into your bathing suit and you dive into the pool (pool still represents sin) and you stay in the pool for a long time and have no desires in getting out because you were prepared and dressed for the part. You basically committed premeditated sin and “dove into sin.” See, the difference is the mindset. For a Christian that has 100% focus on Jesus but may lose sight for a second, they will fall into sin and want out immediately because sin isn’t what controls their mindset and direction for their life. When the focus is on self-desires and the world and not Jesus at all, sin becomes fun without understanding the affects it has on self and others and that person continues to dive into sin without regret. Again, following Jesus doesn’t mean that the person is perfect but it does mean that the mind is on the right thing.

I will leave you with one more thing. As a Christian, the reason I do not want to sin is not because I am fearful of what God will do to me. When I sin, I am fearful of what God may not do through me. God wants to use his people to show him in everything that they do. God used many people that had flaws to spread the gospel and still does today, but when sin creeps in and the focus becomes sin over him, we can’t live up to our full potential for being used for his purpose. God has unfinished business for each follower of him but he wants your full attention always. If you do not know him, just talk to him he is always there to listen and immediately pull you up.