During an outreach conversation at a Burger King, a young man named Fernando described a problem many people have when it comes to religion – a roller-coaster relationship with God. Many feel close to God when life is going well, but it was different with Fernando: “Why is it that God only seems to work in my life when everything is going wrong? When everything is going right I get all proud and pretty much forget God, and He has to do something to put me back in my place”.
Either way, it is our circumstances that dictate God's place in our lives, so it is helpful to remember that when it comes to our initial salvation and the subsequent blessings that follow, we must never forget that simply having our names written in the Book of Life is by far and above the greatest joy we could ever know. There is no comparison!
Yet many would disagree, saying too much emphasis is placed on salvation and not enough on our continued walk with the Lord. But a right understanding of salvation - and continually being reminded of it - can and should help us avoid a roller-coaster walk with the Lord.
As I talked with Fernando, I could tell he too had no idea of the extent of his own sin. As a result he also didn’t know what the just punishment for his sin should be. He believed he was saved, but he didn’t know what he was saved from. His focus easily and often shifted to what more the Lord might do for him, rather than what Jesus had already done on the cross.
This wrong focus put him in a steep climb of self-centered pride that could only be controlled by a roller-coaster drop back to reality as the Lord put him in his place. In this condition, one might know how to handle failure, but they can’t possibly handle continued success as their self-centered pride gets in the way. What to do?
Our relationship with God must begin and continue with the Word of God. We need to begin with God's moral law such as the Ten Commandments, comparing ourselves to His standard “so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” (Romans 7)
Looking to the law as in a mirror will help remind us just what it is we are saved from. In James 1 we read "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."
But James didn't limit the extent of our moral "mirror" to God's law - he said we need to listen to the "word". I believe this "word" refers to all of God's word - not just direct commands such as the 10 Commandments but the principles and examples set throughout scripture, ultimately fulfilled in the life and example set by the living "Word" of God, Jesus.
A focus on the life and teachings of Jesus will constantly remind us of who we are in comparison to Him and whom he is working to help us become more Christlike. The testing and trials involved in this process don't have to make us "like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind...double-minded and unstable in all they do" as James had written earlier.
Let's keep our eyes on the Word of God in all it's forms, and we can avoid that roller-coaster relationship with God.
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