I was thinking this morning about how so many things that we should or shouldn't do to do better in life are so simple...and so hard. Most of life, and doing well in it, either spiritually, physically, emotionally, or personally, is pretty simple. We act like it is complicated, but it is not.
Brain Surgery-complicated. Tracing the electrical system of today's automobiles-complicated. Understanding the various global economic factors and how they interrelate-complicated.
But most of us don't face that sort of challenge each day. Get out of bed-simple. Stop doing that habit-simple. Start doing that other habit-simple. Sit down and take the 30 minutes to do that thing-simple. Yet there is where we fail each day. At least I do. These simple things get very hard. Why? I guess because in almost every instance, I am fighting myself. Most simple hard things involve going against my human nature. I don't want to get out of bed. I want to keep doing that habit. I don't want to take the time and effort to make myself pick up that good habit. I don't have that extra 30 minutes because I spent it doing something else that I wanted to do, even if it was a waste of time.
We always complain about life being hard, and sometimes it is. Sometimes things come in that are very difficult to deal with, but often, what makes it hard is that we are tough to work with.
What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
(Romans 7:15-25)
