He meets me where I'm at....

He meets us where We're at....

Philippians 3:12-16 "12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

I remember a long time ago praying this prayer that continues to "haunt" me today. It was a message I heard a long time ago speaking about King David. One of the distinguishing marks about King David was that he had a heart after God's own heart. What an amazing gift that is!!! And so during a dry period of my own faith freshman year of college, I prayed to God that He would grow a heart after His own in me. My oh my, how faithful God is to those kinds of prayers...and b/c of it, I would have to say that I have been placed in positions that have forced me to go completely against my own nature.

In Romans 7, Paul speaks about how our sinful nature often takes over and we allow that to guide our actions while the Godly nature God has for our own hearts only exists in our head and it takes time for it to become part of the new nature God is forming in us. The key word is definitely "forming."

Philippians 2:1-8

"1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"

This is the amazing thing about Jesus Christ is that He not only saw our situations but He put himself in our shoes. It is a phrase that we often remark here and there, but the challenge for all of us is to not just put ourselves in another person's shoes....but to get into their heart and see through their eyes. It is almost to become that person to see their perspective.

I know that in relationships, I have had the tendency of just placing myself in their position. Of course I wouldn't come up with any sort of compassion because I still have my heart as I look at their position. My judgements and my logic still made sense except that I stood in their position and wondered why the heck they didn't see it the way I saw it. Funny how that is?

The increasing challenge is not to only put myself in their shoes, but to almost become them in the situation they are in and usually one that I precipiatetd through my own actions. Christ Himself did this very thing for me. He did not just put Himself in my shoes, but looked at my situation through my eyes and saw the hopelessness that was in the world that I'm in. Without Him, I cannot say for certain I would be here today. So seeing my situation, He provided hope for me through the cross.

So the question that I ponder today is not that I just understand people's situations, but am I being Christ to them? Am I taking the time to see through their eyes, to feel through their hearts? This is the next challenge I face and one that God is continually confronting me with.... Its funny because until this moment of reflection comes, there grows a continual frustration with people...a wondering why they don't see the world as I do... and so I force myself to be patient, to try to be more understanding, to hold my tongue and in it all I just find myself trying......so hard....and growing so disillusioned....

Perhaps the goal is not to try so hard, but it is to start being Christ to others. And as Christmas time approaches, the place that I need to start first is to learn through Christ's example of being born into a world He didn't have to. He endured what wasn't fair and sacrificed so much for a cause so few believed in...

And the question that pounds like a migraine is why!?......Why? Christ....for an obstenite group of people...why!? For the people that would spit in your face why? For the people that would stone you, that would whip you?....for the disciples that would turn their back on you? Why?!.....for what reason would compel you to go to such extreme to save a people that would have no regard for you!?...

Is that not the million dollar question!? Is that not the reason we find our own thoughts continually hit a road block?! A love incomprehensible...one that does not make sense... it literally sits in defiant of logic....as to rebel against even the nature of own our understanding...how are we to interpret such a love?

It only continues to plague my own heart....for God, the creator of this universe could have chosen any way to save this world...a plan of redemption, a carpenter's son, a group of rag tag fisherman and other ho-hums of society....3 years, a life or ridicule, unbelief.....to the son of the creator, the created laughed, prodded, made fun of, plotted against, conived...against the only son, the created chose to crucify and so I stand in wonder, in mystery, in humility not knowing how to react or how to comprehend...

Jesus why.....and it is here, in the face of his very torturers He pleads for their forgiveness....in the moments leading to his death, He pleads for those that are going to crucify Him....but why?!

There this mantra or theme God has placed on my heart this past quarter. "God meets us where we're at..." And I have to say that God is revealing this in so many ways. He meets me where I'm at....often times on a broken road....so far away...with my head down wondering if all of "this" really matters. Wandering through the forest of my frustrations.....going through the path of my situations wondering where this is all going to lead? Taking one step forward....feeling the bitter chill of the wind hit my bones and the leaves rustling around me. Is this a path that God had lead me to or am I just walking alone...

Jesus meets us where we're at. He meets me on this path.....He meets me in this road where my wounded heart cries for comfort, where my chilled bones seek warmth...the desire to curl up in front of a fire having the flames radiant the soothing heat into my despondant soul. A lick of warmth lights the flicker of hope that becomes rekindled....God meets me where I'm at....

But was it necessary to go such extremes? Why the harshest of situations...does He know my heart that well? Does he know how hard it would be for me to believe in His love for me. Perhaps it in the recollection of the brutality that He faced that my heart can find comfort that His love goes beyond even the cruelest of people. His forgivness breaks through the barriers of doubt and I can find security in that. His desire to go so far was His desire to show me that His love is beyond my own actions of hurting him. I cannot put into doubt the love that He has for me regardless of what I do, say or think. Even to the point of crucifixtion, His love is made available.

I do believe that as Christ prayed and took up the daunting task of being the Savior of the world, He took a glimpse into my own life. I am convinced that He had to. He understood our situation and He understood how desperate our hearts would be for a Savior. I know that I am oh so thankful so many days when I don't think I'm going to quite make it. He meets us where we're at...and so in doing so, the place we meet Him is at the cross...The cross reminds us that He meets us where we're at...it reminds us that His work has made us complete, and we don't have to try so hard anymore...

The cross also reminds me that the challenege in following Christ is to meet others where they're at. It does not matter what is fair or unfair...what is right or wrong, or if I got hurt or not, but what matters is seeing the other person through their situation, heart and circumstances. Often my heart turns from indignant righteousness to humbled brokeness....and perhaps it is in this place that God is forming my heart after His. It is in the moments where I want to exert my own righteousness, where I want to feel like my way is better than someone else's, it is where I want to scream...."What about my situation....what about mE!!!!...its not FAIR....." God gently reminds me that God has called me to love Him and His people. I do not have to seek fairness or love from others but I am called to provide it to others. I am called to die to myself and take up my cross daily...not to wait for someone else to take this cross for me...God has called me to love His people irregardless of the fact that I am loved or that anyone sees my perspective.