I’d started the first two posts in this series the exact same way. I will spare you that as we enter the 3rd post on being a crusader for Christ. The only thing I’ll share for a 3rd time is the definition of a Crusader.
Crusader: Noun. A person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change.
Reminder we are talking about religious change.
More so, the change of our individual heart space.
Maybe a revival is more accurate.
We are currently living in a post-Christian world, but I will save that for next week.
Tying in the revival with all 4 parts coming together.
At this moment I’d like to talk about one more area of life one could assess.
Again each of these posts is coming from a place of my own assessment of my life.
Can I call myself a person who actively campaigns for religious change if I am not active?
The past two weeks we’ve covered…
Comfortable Crusader – We are so comfortable with the way we’ve built our lives that we are settled.
Cautious Crusader – We are too careful to let go of our lives and let God lead the way.
Crippled Crusader – Are we crippled by our past, does it get in the way of God working now?
Past Person
Speaking as a person who attempted to live in the world.
I looked to the world to find the answers that I was tired of waiting on from the Lord.
I attempted to be comforted by what the world had to offer.
If you’re there now, living worldly, and you are constantly feeling a void, I can promise you this…
It’s a void that won’t be filled until you rekindle your relationship with your Heavenly Father, who – is patiently waiting. It sadly took me a full decade to come to that realization.
With many trial and error life lessons and lots of heartaches.
These life lessons, no matter the weight I think they carry, are gone.
The Lord has taken them, forgotten them, and moved on. It’s I who gets stuck in it.
It requires giving up the way I think life should look, and trusting that the Lord’s version is the best version. Which is against our human nature, trusting that someone else knows what is best for you.
Therefore, we hold onto the past, hold onto the things that make us who we are today.
At least I do, I overthink them, or I wait for another shoe to drop from things of long ago.
I think to myself, that was one long wrap sheet, my sins.
Lord, you just took them all, just like that, are you sure?
Is it just me Ladies, Is anyone else out there terrible at letting go of things?
God’s Word
The Lord says ~ Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Isaiah 43:18
Obviously, he didn’t exactly just say that to us. But, I like to think he’d say that same thing today.
He was addressing the Nation of Israel and their unfaithfulness. Here is the rest of the picture.
This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”
This is what the Lord says – he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguised, snuffed out like a wick: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not percieve it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
Isaiah 43:14-21 NIV
Christ’s Crusader
If we are meant to be Christ’s Crusader (spoiler alert – we are) then we need to put our crutches down.
The Lord said it to the Israelites and he is saying it to us today…
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
We won’t, we will miss what He is showing us now if we are living in our past.
Honor the Lord’s promises.
He says, what past?
The things we’ve gone through in this life, the only way we are meant to remember them is as a tool.
Nevertheless, sometimes the things we go through in this life happen so that we can shepherd/disciple others. They’ve shaped us for a reason, we can relate.
Then, share that it’s safe to lay that down, to give it up, to give it to Jesus.
We are crippled by the need to control everything, to have our hand firmly on all aspects of our lives.
Ironically the very life we try to control is a gift.
A gift from the one who wants us to simply just seek him with our whole hearts.
A letter to the exiles of Israel, found in the book of Jeremiah, sits close to my heart.
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
Lord, I lay down my crippled, cautious, and comfortable being. Into your hands, I commit myself.
My life is yours, it’s always been yours. Forgive me when I try and act as if it is my own as if I am in control. Remind me that you’ve got the whole picture and I have just a tiny piece of the big plan.