Father please forgive me for I can not compose
The fear that lives within me
Or the rate at which it grows
If struggle has a purpose on the narrow road you’ve carved
Why do I dread my trespasses will leave a deadly scar
Do they see the fear in my eyes? Are they so revealing?
This time I cannot disguise all the doubt I’m feeling

What if I stumble, what if I fall?
What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?

What if I stumble?
Everyone’s got to crawl when you know that
You’re up against a wall, it’s about to fall
Everyone’s got to crawl when you know that

Source: DC Talk song, “What if I stumble?”

What is very interesting that sometimes the worse stumbling in our faith, can often come from ourselves, from presumptions of what WE think our faith should be about and sometimes, just by trying to hard and rather than getting the picture, we miss the mark in the process.

I was reflecting on DC Talk’s song, “What if I stumble” and it reflects how I sometimes feel and I think we all sometimes feel in our Christian walk and how we tend to either be too hard on ourselves, or sometimes, too soft and can’t seem to find that happy medium in our walk.

Playing the Wii fit, one of the first things the software does is test your center of balance.

The Wii has you stand straight as you can on the Wii fit board while trying to get the red dot to align just right to show that you are “on center” of the Wii.

Trouble is that it’s harder than it sounds…sometimes you may get it and have that good day when you are “almost on center” and there are days for whatever reasons, you’re tired, you’re distracted, etc. that you will be off the mark and far from being “align just right”, and the reality with the Christian walk is that we are all the same way.

There is no one among us who is perfect except for our Heavenly Father and He has done the hard work for us. If we were perfect….God wouldn’t have felt the need to give us the gift of His one and only Son so we all would be saved, but the sad truth is that He knows until Christ returns and the church is reunited in body and soul with our Heavenly Father, we are still bound on earth by the curse of sin.

It is through and with Jesus Christ that we have hope and salvation and until then…we are all going to make our mistakes be it good or bad. It doesn’t make things right and it’s not a free pass to go sinning, but it is what God wants salvation to be about…It’s about hope.

The difference between when we sinned before accepting Jesus Christ and after we have accept Jesus Christ, is notice after you have truly accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and have a personal relationship with Him and allowed Him to live in and through you, that things seem to have lost it’s luster and it.just.doesn’t.feel.as.good as it use to.

That’s the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through you and it is like those markers on the road.

Every so often we are not always going to be perfect drivers. We’re going to get distracted, we’re going to get tired, and we are going to stumble and veer off more to the right or the left than we should and those markers are there to make us start rumbling and rattling our jaws to wake up us up that we are steering off the path and need to move that steering wheel more on track.

The difference.

If you truly believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour you are going to go, “Why did I do that?” and find ways to correct yourself….If you don’t believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, more than likely, one is going to go instead,”Wow that was fun, let’s do it again!!” rather than learn from it.

Mistakes weren’t meant to put us on guilt trips, but to help us learn where we are weak or where we have gone off course…That’s being human and God knows that we are weak and we need Him. He could easily have said, “oops, you stumble, too bad” and close the door on ALL of us forever.

We are all going to say things we wish we shouldn’t have had said in afterthought, but we can learn from that; We are all going to do things that will leave us thinking, why did I do that, and for those who are learning and growing to be spiritual mature, rather than let the enemy win, instead go, wow, that was so stupid of me, what do I need to learn from this to NOT do this again or do it differently so it would bear better testimony.

The world is expecting Christians to be superheroes but the reality that we are no different today as we are today. We’re still imperfect, but we are forgiven.

Forgiven doesn’t mean free pass…it just means…God knows you know you are not perfect, that you have sin, will sin and you want to have a relationship with Him, because you need Him and want to be the person He wants you to be.

Life is a growing experience and we are never going to get it right until we are in our Father’s arms forever and free from the sin filled bodies we are all born into.

In the article,”Stumbling over the Issue of Stumbling Christians” there is a notable quote that said:

“In conclusion, whatever we take from this discussion on stumbling and freedom, we must keep the balance of God’s Word. In Colossians, one of the pinnacle letters of the revelation of grace, Paul has some strong statements regarding people’s freedom in Christ. These must be factored into the discussion of stumbling:”

16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:16-23)

I do not feel that Paul or anyone else is saying….it’s okay to go clubbing at one in the morning and getting drunk, but I do feel he is saying, Don’t feel guilty over everything but test everything that you do and balance it out.

Not everything is as bad as we sometimes make it out to be and we risk committing a worse sin of taking God’s word in our own hands and defining it to fit and justify ourselves.

Coffee is not a sin if it’s not going to cause one to stumble, but if it makes another person stumble and do something that bears weak or bad testimony to our Heavenly Father, they should not drink it but should not expect everyone else not to drink it as well.

Same goes with dress; No one can truly and absolutely define “modesty”. If a person is covered but is wearing a blouse and jeans, this doesn’t mean they are no less modest than say a person who wears a long blouse and a long skirt. That is more cultural preference there than actually preference because then what about a person in another country who may dress, say in a sarong or rags and can’t afford to “dress modest” as we define it.

At one time, modesty was not letting ankles be shown which would eliminate a good portion of the world’s population today.

God is not about setting regulations…Other religions have a long list of can’t….We are about a personal relationship with a Heavenly Father who has declared it to all the nations, “Done”. He has overcome and finish the requirements that was needed and all He asks of you and me is to allow Him into our lives to have a personal relationship and accept the fact that we are sinners, we will continue to sin, but He has paid the price and in us and through us, He is the catalyst that will change us….there is nothing that we can do ourselves because then, it’s telling Christ…We are in control…not Him.

How often do we beat ourselves up with guilt and in the process allow the enemy victory in distracting us and keeping us from having that relationship with our Heavenly Father because we have allowed the enemy to lie to us and deceive us into thinking, God doesn’t care for us and we’re not good enough to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

God wants to let us in on a little secret. He knows we’re not good enough for Him. He knows that we’re not perfect enough for Him and guess what….He loves us….for that.

Imperfection and all.

We will never be good enough for Him.

We will never be perfect enough for Him.

We are going to stumble and that’s why He is there to give us a hand when we stumble.

We are going to fall and He is there to catch us when we do.

We are going to feel pain and He is there to comfort us.

We are going to feel out of control and He is there to say, He is in control.

We had watch the Lion King during the trip and it really kept reminding me so much of the Christian symbology throughout the show. Simba was overcome with guilt and felt that he was responsible and because of the lies his uncle told him (sound familiar), Simba believed it enough to think he was unworthy and ran.

Inside we are all princes and princesses of the greatest King of them all and He has faith in us but wants us to have faith in Him. He’s not going to let us go through this alone, but He also doesn’t want us to think we can do it alone.

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out far, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

God loves us so much, He isn’t going to just abandon us if and when we do stumble and we all will in our lives.

We have to allow ourselves to be able to forgive ourselves and forgive others as well though in order to have that refining relationship with Jesus Christ.

He wants us to grow and be mature but part of that isn’t by hiding in fear of failure or imperfection but by going,”Lord, You’re in control of all of this, I’m not and I can’t ever be”.

When it comes to the Christian Life, we have to remember what is important. Part of that is, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3.

This isnt’ about trying to be an “I’m Okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay”, but rather,”I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect, we’re all not perfect”.

We lose a spiritual life when we keep trying to create laws and rules that we know we are going to rebel. We have to be careful to say we’re not when we have already rebel by the essence of the fact that we all have sinned so that is rebelling there.

Christ never said to live a “Christian life” because we can’t; He did say to live a life that glorifies God and part of that is to quit trying to live a Christian life, and start living a life that is focus on the Savior and not the sins that are a part of life.

Confused? That’s actually okay. Little secret…we all are trying to figure it out. Anyone who says they do have it figure out…please send Paul a letter or email, because he wrote in Romans 7:15,18-19 (NLT):
“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate…I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”

Everyone struggles. That’s a common truth. Everyone struggles; it’s because of that, we need and strive to have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you are struggling and want to break free and find freedom, I invite you to meet Jesus Christ. He loves you, wants to have a personal relationship with you and He does understand.

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.

He struggle with temptation while out in the desert too. He is the only perfect person in the world, in the universe, in eternity, who can rightfully claim He has it together and that He is in control and that He is perfect, and the thing is…It’s not about Him. It’s about you, me, everyone. He loves you and wants to live in you and through you and help you come home where God has a warm cup of chocolate, a warm fire in the fireplace and a soft blanket.

Okay…maybe not literal, but God isn’t going to abandon you. The world may abandon you at the slightest hint of imperfection or a face covered with pimples, but God doesn’t care. He really doesn’t.

Know why?

“…..The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks in the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NLT

He doesn’t see what the world sees. The world cares what they see and what is outside, but God…He cares what He sees in your heart. Wow.

“Out of sheer generousity he pus us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to wehre he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:24

Don’t take my word for it….I’m just an imperfect, unworthy servant of our Heavenly Father that I praise His name for forgiving a sinner like me. I invite you to find out for yourself who Jesus Christ really is.

“When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace.”-Galatians 5:4 MSG.

Check out God’s text message that He sent out to everyone, John 3:16,

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”