relying

2 Corinthians 1: 8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters,* about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

VS 21 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

Ya know, Paul's life as a Christ follower was no Club Med existence. I often wonder if we didn't have our luxurious lives (compared to the other 96% of the world), or SUV's, or Ipod's & PS2's, or our latte's & Smoothie's, just how committed we'd be to this Jesus we all profess to love & follow. I wonder if we got beat up a couple of times for just being a following of Jesus if we'd be in such an all-fired hurry to fling our arms up in worship & sway back & forth.

Paul points out that their troubles made them rely completely on God for their everything. For decades, as a music minister, I relied on my abilities to "do" life & ministry. It was a VERY difficult life. In the past 8 years, I've made the switch to relying more & more completely on God for the whole enchilada. Life's a whole lot more simple - BIG understatement.

We all have a default setting to rely on ourselves, b/c it basically comes down to trust. Very few people in any of our lives are truly trustworthy. Most of our parents aren't. So it's "normal" for it to spill over into our relationship with God.

Today, let's all look at where we rely on ourselves, & how we can let our lives & situations go, & rely on God to handle it.

Just a thought...

I love you