Clarity

“Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.” (1 Chronicles 16:25 NLT)

The god in whom we place the most trust; the one who puts us to the ground and holds his relentless knee to our neck is not the God of the Bible, but the god of self-reliance. Even for many Jesus followers, the first statement when trouble comes isn’t: “O God, please help me!” it’s a question: “O my, what am I going to do?”

In the details of our lives, we long for clarity. A clear path that enables us to see far into the future; a clear vision of what our life will look like for years to come; a long, unencumbered life that will enable us to coast into heaven without a single care. That’s why the unexpected rattles us so violently. The cancer diagnosis or the death of a loved one; the loss of a job or the end of a long-term relationship.

While intellectually we know these things happen to others, we somehow feel we’re supposed to be immune, but we’re not. Loving Jesus isn’t a protective blanket that shields us from the pains of life, it’s an assurance that we never face them alone, and a confidence that ultimately God will use them for our good and for His glory.

The clarity we need as believers is first and foremost that we are not in control of our life. That the God we profess to love and serve is the Creator of all that is; that He’s all powerful, all knowing, ever present and all loving, but He’s also Sovereign. He’s the ultimate source of authority to whom everyone and everything will one day give an account.

Ray Majoran’s prayer encourages me as he prays: “Sovereign Lord, You are not shaken by the things that rattle us. The ground may shift, the ice may crack, but You remain — unmoved, unchanging, and entirely sure. Your faithfulness is not fragile. Your wisdom is perfect. You are not a fallback when our plans fail; You are the foundation beneath every step we take, whether we acknowledge it or not.

And yet, we often place more trust in what we can analyze than in You —the One who holds everything together. Like Peter stepping onto the waves, we start strong, our eyes locked on You, but when the wind howls and the surface wavers, we panic, calculate, and look down. We lean on our own understanding, hoping our instincts will save us, forgetting that clarity is not the prerequisite for obedience, and that the safest place we could ever stand is exactly where You’ve called us, even when it doesn’t make sense (Matthew 14:29).

By the power of Your Word and Spirit, please challenge us. Disrupt the patterns of self-reliance that keep us standing still. Let our confidence be rooted not in circumstances or outcomes, but in Christ alone — the One who walks where we would sink, and invites us to do the same.(See Glimpse of Infinity Confidence in Christ -03-31-25)

Understanding that our clarity will never come from within will hopefully drive us to our knees in humble submission to the One who knows all, sees all, understands all, and will not only guide us, but walk with us every step of the treacherous paths of this life. When the future frightens and seeks to paralyze us, may we relax as we take the hand of the One who will never leave or forsake us. May we trust Him instead of ourselves as we walk on the waters of our future, whatever it may hold.

He IS our clarity!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed :😊