pause...and think about it

I started today with a heavy heart. A good heaviness. The kind that makes me evaluate just where I am in Christ...Where I am in Christ? What does that even mean...

A friend had a tremendously emotive video on her blog a few days ago. I watched it, with no real expectations and then the climax hit and I was frozen in wonder of the Lord's majesty. I often feel out of place in life, like the black sheep in with all the normal ones. I questioned my relationship with the God a lot. I believed if I read more, prayed more, served more I could feel more whole.

Thing is, I have always felt close to God the father. Yet, I would feel days of loneliness, or even sadness and wonder where they were coming from. My relationship with my heavenly father has been sound for years now and without thought the Holy Spirit has always stepped in for my lack of righteousness. But after watching that video it all occurred to me. The Father, the Holy Ghost...what about the Son? Who is the Son in my life?

I know that Jesus is the only way to the Father and I am always grateful for the mercy and the grace that has been bestowed on my life. But I took my Savior for granted. My Savior was just that, my Savior. Nothing more...but he is so much more. I find that the Trinity and their roles can be hard to wrap my mind around sometimes, but that's usually when I'm thinking about it too much. Honestly, it's simple...there is my Father, my Conscience, and my Beautiful Savior. A father, his son, and the spirit-- a perfect symbol of everything my soul needs to be whole.

So how is it that for so long I could believe I didn't need to live with my Savior? Truth be told, I didn't live. I cried, I ached, I longed to be whole. My father had always been there loving me and disciplining me, but I was so confused why I still felt empty. I didn't realize just what role my Savior played in my life.

"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell..." Colossians 1:19
My peace, my Prince of Peace...my freedom, my hope, my forgiveness, my shepherd, my counselor, everything is in him. The fullness of my life is in Christ. And God wanted it this way. He created it this way.

There is an on campus Bible Study I attend and this past week the Pastor who leads it asked us to think about our doctrinal beliefs. Why we believe what we believe. There were a lot of doctrines he brought up that really made me question my own faith, including this idea that praying Jesus into your life gets you to heaven. I honestly believe now, that is not the whole truth. Jesus is most certainly the way, the truth, and the life. He is however, not a revolving door. We don't get to pray a prayer of salvation and then walk away without remorse expecting it will be the same when we return. Repentance, true, honest, heart breaking, on your knees repentance is what gives us life.

I feel cheated almost, that I missed out on this peace. I thought I was safe, that I prayed a prayer, I lived a life, I served in the church. WHY AM I SO EMPTY? I didn't understand, and I never knew what was missing. But I didn't know anything was wrong either. I thought it was me. It was what I had grown to believe because I had never learned anything else. Jesus was my Savior, and he was who I needed in my heart. God was my father and he was who I needed to pray to. the end. Granted, I am responsible for my own faith, but I never thought anything was wrong with the simplicity of what I knew.

...I feel whole today. I have felt whole for 24 hours. I feel peace today. I have never felt peace like this in my life. I am in love with Christ today. I have never known this kind of love. I am so grateful to today. I have always loved my Father...

I understand now the part that was missing. Jesus isn't a cure all, "I'm in heaven for sure now guys!" He is mighty and his love is overwhelming and fulfilling when you finally understand the life that he breathes into us. My Enlightener enlightened me. I've lived an empty doctrinal life picking up what I have been taught without evaluating it. It's time to make my faith my own, and truly know just who I am in Christ...and who Christ is for that matter. Who is Christ to you?