Are you?

Blackaby asked two good questions at the end of today's devotional.

Do you fear change more than you fear God? Are you willing to allow God to do what is necessary in order to free you?

Consider the questions. Consider what you are going through in your life.  Think...ARE you more afraid of change happening in your life than you are of God?

I can promise you change NEEDS to happen in our lives.  To take us from what we were and make us into what we were born to be.

Our image of ourselves is blurred and distorted.  It's seen through weary eyes. Through sights and smells that are at best tainted but at worst are bad enough we have become sensory blind to.

As a Doctor and Nurse slowly, carefully, perform surgery. As they carefully do what is necessary, we have to have a great level of trust that they are doing what is best for us. 

Jesus is the Great Physician. There is no one better than Him to know us on the inside and out.  There's none to know what He knows.  When to start an operation, when to back off.  When to allow for healing so that we are strong enough to handle other operations.

Surgeries? Yes. At its barest form, that's the work of a potter.  A sculptor.  To create a unique work of art requires, in essence, surgery.  Each motion. Each tiny mark or line. Every stroke of a  tool.  In the hands of a Master brings forth a masterpiece. 

I have been through very few physical surgeries. Wisdom teeth removal. Root canals. Cavities.  A laceration on my hand required internal and external stitches.  A 7.5 by 5 mm kidney stone.  As ironic as it is for me. I remember that last one more than the others.  I fully remember going into surgery not wearing anything. Woke up in recovery fully dressed except for my shoes.  At best I was uncomfortable with that revelation. 

In all of them I had to trust the person doing the job because there was no choice.  It had to be done. 

In our lives, after we come to Christ, there's work to our lives that has to be done.  There's going to be things to give up. But there's also things we are going to gain.

You no longer sit on the floor by yourself playing with toddler toys do you?  As an adult you put away things that you no longer do.  I have items that I have that collect dust because I no longer use them. I have gotten rid of much that I no longer have a use for.  Things catch our eye, gain our attention for a moment then we lose interest in. 

But sometimes those things are a trap.  Bad habits.  Things we do that we know we shouldn't be doing.  Thoughts that we have that we shouldn't be having.  Scripture says that the Lord knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart of man.  We come to Christ and soon He will organize the surgeries we need to become Christ-like.  It says that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus.  What He does is to prepare us for the work He has for us to do. 

Change often brings fear. Bigger the change bigger the fear.  But we need to trust Jesus to do what is best for us.  The same, if not more so than the trust we show to earthly Doctors.

Trusting in Christ to make those choices and changes is what's necessary to bring freedom.  To allow us to walk again.  Not one of the people whom Jesus cured or healed told Him to stop what He was going to do and to take a look at their Medical chart.  Not one said Whoooa! Hold on there, what are you doing to me!?!

They all took it on faith. They all believed that He knew what He was doing. Trust.

Jesus spoke of being blessed for those who saw what they saw of Him but also said that WE are blessed as well that had not seen yet still believed.

Trust your God. Believe that He knows what is best.  Let Him remove your dirty garments and clothe you in His righteousness.  Let Him clean your wounds. Let Him apply His bandages.  Let Him do what only He can do to bring the freedom He promised.

There are no pending malpractice cases against my Great Physician, Jesus Christ.

Sinful people who are not saved can claim He made a mistake in creating them but God makes no mistakes.  Satan twists and distorts the truth of God.  He convinces people to believe lies. He is the Father of lies according to God's Word.

When you come to Christ you come as you are.  Broken, dirty, smelly.  Lovingly, He does whatever is necessary to bring about all that He promised concerning us.

Like I said nobody whom Jesus cured ever was the same again.  They experienced a meeting with their Creator. They never asked why?  They all understood by the time He was done. All.

So fear not.  Peter had great fear while standing in the boat.  He had great fear to overcome when he dared to ask Jesus what he did.  To step out onto the water.
That was real change.  Nobody had ever walked on water before them. Jesus did it and made it possible for Peter.

You are in good company if you have fears that need addressed.  Elijah, Noah, Moses. Moses? The guy who lead Israel for more than 80 years? The guy who had a hand in all those miracles against Pharaoh? The guy who had a hand in parting the Red Sea? Yes him.  He doubted, he sinned, he stumbled and was corrected. Nobody who has lived, not counting Jesus, has ever not been fearful of some kind of change in their lives.

Our tendency is to get anxious. Jesus has something to say about that too.

Think on this passage:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

We go through things, changes, but unlike those who don't know Jesus, we are never alone. We have a means of talking to our Physician at any time about those changes.  So stay in prayer.  It also says in Scripture to pray without ceasing.  Praying doesn't need to be 10 to 60 minutes long. Any prayer can be a few short words.

So now the rubber meets the road.

Time is now to trust.  Will you?