“Lord, we thank you for our families, friends and colleagues. We pray that we may be instrumental in showing your love to all those around me.”
“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.”
Exodus 20:2 NLT
Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer, “your Kingdom come”. It sounds simple and clear, and yet carries within it the very heart of our relationship to God. It is a simple thing to entrust ourselves into God’s care and to acknowledge that God will provide for us in each and every situation. This I did enthusiastically and sincerely as a student. I had never had the gospel, or the good news about Jesus as my rescuer, explained to me. It made sense to my rational mind and slowly it took hold of my heart as well. I no longer simply believed in the logic of salvation, but I experienced a realisation of God’s presence alongside me in my everyday life.
However, then life began to happen all around and to me. There were things I enjoyed and circumstances I’d never have chosen in a month of Sundays. This culminated in the journey Katey and I were introduced to following her diagnosis with progressive MS. Suddenly rescue seemed a somewhat hollow word.
Like Israel I stood at the start of a journey of discovery. Freedom from slavery was not the equivalent of the comfortable life. I encountered the challenge from my own inner assumption that life on the earth must be easy for me. I deserved a good and steady income, safety from external threat to my security and well-being, and the freedom to choose what I wanted in life. I was now invited to discover that journeying with God offered total provision, yet a provision that lay beyond my ability to understand and control. I was subject to God’s rule.
Our world prizes independence above all else, and God’s kingdom can prove uncomfortable by contrast. It’s so often realised in the hidden spaces ahead of the public squares. Israel was brought into a wilderness of God’s choosing as the only route leading into the Promised Land.
QUESTION
Will you lay down your independence and accept God’s right to rule your life?
PRAYER
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, may my heart desire your kingdom above my own, your will not my will, and your purpose in all things. Give me eyes to discern your kingdom way, and hands that work in collaboration with your Holy Spirit to build that kingdom here on the earth. I entrust myself to you once more this day.
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