Hope Without Limits

I am freshly amazed at how the Creator of All gives the created the freedom of choice.

Think about someone you love.  Think about how many times you either have, or have wanted to control their choices so they don’t get hurt, make mistakes, hurt others or just simply have a better, fuller more enjoyable life.

Since I’m made in God’s image, that tells me He experiences the same longing and yet always He chooses to let us choose (Deuteronomy 30:15).  Otherwise, it would not be unconditional love, it would be control.

Recently while walking I became aware of a very simple choice that can have great impact.  What might that be?  Two seemingly innocuous words … and, or.

I have been blessed with the gift of administration.  However, it had become quite burdensome trying to plan everything for everybody to keep their worlds safe and running smoothly.  I heard myself praying “Jesus show me where I should be depending on You OR my gift of administration.”

Suddenly I realized that was the problem!  It isn’t OR, it is AND.  Only when I use my gifts AND Jesus is when I receive the freedom He would give me in exchange for the burden of planning I was experiencing. Jesus orchestrating my gift (Isaiah 26:3).  Jesus guiding how I use my gift (Proverbs 3:5-6).  Jesus showing me the boundaries in pleasant places (Psalm 16:6).  Jesus being the supply of the very energy to cause the gift to function in my life via the eternal waters of life from God’s very throne (Revelation 22:1).  My part is being diligent to follow His lead both to develop the gifts He has put in me and to implement those gifts.

If we depend on what He has given us, be that our giftings, people, things in our lives, “OR” Jesus, that gets us in trouble.  We get out of balance; out of rhythm.

The “AND” provides us our metronome.  Jesus gives us the beat and rhthym of what needs to happen when.  He even provides the how … the crescendos, the decrescendos, the changes in tempo.  He is the heartbeat behind it all.

It’s constant you know, this freedom to choose “and Jesus”.  Every moment of every day, the choice is always ours.  Now there’s a reason to hope!

Conductor of My Heart