Living Receiving Rather Than Resisting

I don’t want to live my life resisting what offends me or the things I don’t like. Rather I want to live receiving all of life as from God. Not like a bobblehead doll on the dash of an old Chevy Impala, but as a peaceful sheep in the pasture of my Shepherd. God is sovereign, I am His, and I don’t have to save my life through resisting rather than receiving.

Receiving Not Resisting

How do I live in this place of nonresistance? I see the destructive nature of a life lived in defense. Crusading against is not the same as living for. If all my life is lived focused on what I resist, I am robbed of the joy of actual living. Do you see how a stiff-armed approach to life is defeatist? It’s playing God rather than enjoying Him as my God.

Now, I am not writing this as if I have somehow mastered the art of sheep-ness. But the Shepherd of my Life is leading me through my life in the acceptance of His sovereign touch. This is the difference between living in the pleasure of God or living as an outcast in rebellion. To live in resistance is to live in the chaotic mind of rebellion.

Example of Resistance

I want to share an example of resistance. We have a friend who has 4 grown children who actively hate us. I mean HATE! Even though their vitriol feels deeply personal, I know specifically that their hatred is more about hating God than us. Now I’m not trying to pass this off in a spiritual sleight of hand. It’s not as if when they were little I secretly pinched them and now have no idea why they hate me. They genuinely hate God and everything He stands for. They live in a continual resistance to the life He gave them and now they blame anyone who bears God’s name for His supposed abuse of them.

Well, this morning I have had to again forgive them because they simply infuriate me. But instead of talking smack about them and hating them as a response to their hatred, can I see the whole situation through God-eyes? Instead of resisting, can I live in His mystery?

Martha talked about the mystery just the other day. There’s a mysterious quality of Life that goes beyond our reason and logic. It happens because God is God, I am not, and it just is. The reality is Life is to be lived in a mystery—His Mystery. This is the wonder and magic of Life. No, it isn’t like a fairyland of mystery; it is the mystery of God, His Ways, and His Life.

Open to Receive Rather Than Resisting

We all know life isn’t sugar plum fairies and gingerbread houses. We couldn’t stand it if it were. Think about every story we listen to, read, or watch. It isn’t one good right after another, there has to be a struggle. Without the difficulty there’s no story. No one wants a tale of all good; we want the adventure of overcoming and this is what all of Life is. This is how God designed it. To resist is to miss Life.

If I resist these hateful children, I am looking to lord over and orchestrate rather than focus on God. It is only God who knows and I can either focus on Him or on what I don’t like about how He runs His show. No, this doesn’t mean I am passive about these wayward souls, but only in looking at Jesus will I have His heart about them. It will never come through resisting or hating, only by focusing and receiving HIM.