Anyone else’s schedule look like this lately? Overloaded, barely enough time to get from one thing to the next? Often, I feel like a slave to my to-do list. The fear of failure & letting people down is a heavy weight. As pressure mounts to get everything done, I skip some sleep, trying to keep up. Inevitably, I can’t & shame sets in. I sink into the pit. I’ve done this to myself. Should’ve been better, planned earlier, been more organized. Can’t believe I forgot that meeting.
Embarrassment. Failure. Disappointment. Anxiety. All draining the life out of me.
This month, we’re looking at the song “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You”. Meeting God can feel challenging - I don’t always know how to get out of the pit in order to meet God. Even if I did, I don’t have the energy to make things presentable & impressive. I’m stuck & embarrassed because I’ve done it to myself.
Hebrews 2 says: Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh & blood—the Son also became flesh & blood. Jesus became human like them in order to die for them. Only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. This was the only way he could set free those who had been held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.
When we were in the pit, enslaved by the fear of death (and its friends, shame, anxiety, & failure), God became like us & entered into the pit with us. He didn’t ask us to be presentable or impressive. He came close, put our failures & shame on his back & carried the weight so that we might be free.
Here’s the 3rd verse of the song:
I lay in fetters (chains), groaning.
You came to set me free
I stood, my shame bemoaning
You came to honor me
A glorious crown You give me
A treasure safe on high
That will not fail or leave me
As earthly riches fly
This Christmas season, I’m working on stopping throughout the day & looking for where Jesus is meeting me right where I am. There’s so much on my to-do list that’s undone, but I am not a slave to my to-do list. God has become flesh & blood, met me in the pit, & redefined who I am. He brings freedom & strength to try again. What do you feel enslaved to? Where have you seen God meet you in your pit?
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