Pushing back the darkness

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. (Rabindranath Tagore)

I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth. And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10)

If Christ lives in you, all of God lives in you - you are complete, lacking in nothing you ever need, full of power and might. Now, how many of us are actually living like we believe that? Most of us would cop to a plea of living somewhere below that mark, believing instead in the things that give us worry and stress as a bit more powerful right now. As Tagore said, 'faith is the bird that feels the light' even when the darkness around you hasn't been pushed away entirely by the light. We might just need to ask God to reveal himself in the darkness so it can be pushed back entirely!

If Christ rules over every power and authority that exists, why do we worry so much about things we don't seem to have control over? Perhaps it is because we think WE need to be the one to be in control, living with a courage that really isn't part of who we are in a natural sense. We are faced with bills we cannot pay right now, so we fret, lose sleep, and look for a second job. We extend ourselves beyond what God intended for us to be extended physically, impacting how we feel emotionally and then wonder why our spiritual life is not 'holding us up' any longer. Truth be told, we are neglecting that while trying to figure out how to be our own life's power and authority!

When we welcome Christ into our lives, he becomes the ultimate authority. Like it or not, we must relinquish our 'control' to his ultimate power and authority. We really weren't controlling life well anyway, so how hard should it be to give over control? It is hard for us to admit we are 'not dealing well' with life's challenges, but we hold on to the edges of our sinking ship like it will save us. That 'sinking ship' is really a bunch of 'plans' we made that didn't really 'pan out' all that well. To hold onto those plans is to trust our lives to an anchor, not a life raft!

We would do well to recognize that all power and authority comes to us in the person of Christ. The more we let go of our need to control things, the more we will recognize the futility of the anxiety of working our own plans. It won't be easy to let go, even though the ship is sinking. We might not see our deliverance immediately, but we can trust God's promises. His Son lives in us, therefore his power lives in us. The very thing we need to overcome the darkness that seeks to invade our souls is present within us. Maybe we just need to let his light push that darkness away until we see clearly what we need to do right now. Just sayin!