Could This Be What’s Holding You Back?

Late into the night, in a small, messy room a girl crawled out of her bed. With only the flashes of the television to light the room, she bent her knees and prayed, “God, will you please let him be my husband?”

The girl was me, and the prayer … God answered yes.

I had just spent several hours on the phone in my first real conversation with Luke. We shared our stories of salvation and our dreams for the future. We talked hobbies and habits. Likes and dislikes. We laughed and listened and linked our hearts more than we ever expected. I knew Luke fit the print God placed in my heart so many years before.

There was just one problem. I was kind of spending a lot of time with this other guy.

He was a nice enough guy. But he wasn’t the one. I knew it. And I knew it even more after I hung up that phone with my future husband.

I found all I needed, all I hoped for, all I ever dreamed of in one man named Luke. I wanted nothing more. I looked for no safety net. He had my heart, my whole heart, and I didn’t want to share it with anyone but him. Which made my decision easy when I said, So long Mr. Not Right. There’s no room for you in my heart anymore.

The Bible tells a similar story about a man and Jesus. My Bible describes this man as rich and young. Not bad, right?

But a void in his heart screamed for more. He chased down Jesus to find out about this thing called eternal life. With good works to stand on and a lot to offer, he thought himself a perfect candidate for the Kingdom. But Jesus saw something different.

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. ‘There is still one thing you haven’t done,’ he told him. ‘Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'” Mark 10:21 (NLT)

Jesus recognized a heart divided. The rich, young man wanted all of Jesus, but he didn’t want only Jesus.

Can you imagine if I had tried that with Luke?

“Hey hon, I’m positive you are the man of my dreams, but I have this other guy over here, and well, what do you say you just come along and hang out with us?” I can tell you how that story would end, and it’s not happily ever after with six little clones of Luke.

Even now my heart pounds out the truth, I would never want anything more!

My union with Luke treats me to companionship and excitement like nothing else on earth. The same is true of Jesus, only His treats don’t end on earth and His treasures are more than we can fathom.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

Yet we invite Jesus to squeeze into the puzzle we build, while He beckons us to see how we fit in His.

We trade God’s riches for the riches of our routine. We nestle into easy and prop our feet up on predictable. Regular lulls us to accept ordinary while God’s extraordinary appears dangerous or even ludicrous.

As we near the day we celebrate Christ’s birth, reach for your first love. Remember that flutter when you met Jesus for the first time. Recall the passion that bent your knees and dripped tears down your face as your cried, “You are my everything!”

Then as we move from one year to a new one and dream about all that might be, let’s dare to go further with God.

Let’s release our grip on our plans, pleasures and patterns to be filled by God’s plans, then watch as He does more than we can imagine.

Let’s Talk! I would love to hear about the moment when you encountered Jesus’ unconditional love for the first time and surrendered your life to Him!