The spiritual imperative of RECOGNIZING OUR INADEQUACY is misleading. To admit our INADEQUACY without God is so understated that it can cause us to miss that we are utterly, 100% HELPLESS without God.
INADEQUATE and HELPLESS without God is how I want to live out my faith every single day. Not just on Sundays. Not just when my spiritual equilibrium is in balance. Not just when my moods are buoyant. EVERY DAY.
Admitting that we are inadequate and helpless without God cannot be a truth we occasionally embrace. If we allow too many days between recognizing our inadequacy and helplessness without God, we will eventually start playing BOSS. I know all about that masquerade. I lived it early in my faith when I acted the role of BOSS of my life with a “large and in charge” persona.
I learned the hard way that playing boss was isolating me from any chance of connecting with God, let alone yielding my life to him in full surrender. I learned that playing boss shuts off God’s wisdom fountain. And I learned that playing boss opens us up to collisions with sin and the disruption of our relationship with God.
Christians who play BOSS have trouble relaxing in the middle of life’s vicious slipstream. They have trouble laughing at the threats that unfold every day. They struggle with worry and doubt.
It is a daunting challenge to live a quiet and balanced life in a world of chaos. We have made ourselves so busy that we miss the quiet patter of life. We miss the sun rising in the morning and its descent into darkness at night. We miss God’s rosy pinks and soft whites of dawn as we scurry to our next appointment. We miss God’s peace. All because we want to play boss and deny our inadequacy and helplessness without God.
“Be still and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10
That approach to life is a mirage that initially seems to be working until you wake up sweating in the night over how to keep your life’s deck of cards from tumbling into a heap.
I continually remind myself about my predilection to PLAY BOSS when life doesn’t match up with my idealized expectations. I run to God quickly when this kind of force emerges and I forget about my INADEQUACY and HELPLESSNESS without him.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you admit every day that you are INADEQUATE and HELPLESS without God?
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
