Proverbs 2: 21
‘the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall
remain in it’
Life fluctuates and changes all the time. Despite the beauty
of life all of us go through dark periods, sometimes losing our way completely.
During such times the strong minded people among us often rely upon their faith,
trusting their spiritual capacity for help to get them through. They learn their
lessons and move forwards. Other people are inclined to become ‘lost.’ This is
especially true if the burdens around us feel overwhelming and our ability to
cope is worn down; resulting in depression and an inability to function
effectively.
This is very hard to cope with as it impacts upon our
self-esteem and may affect our performance. We may well feel inspired and
motivated but tend to procrastinate and avoid taking action. Of course we can
ultimately learn from every experience and become stronger through doing
so. Many people have found themselves
and their true passions as a result of the darkest moments of their lives when
they were dwelling in an 'unsavoury land.'
Even if we are living in the ‘beautiful land’ as God intended we
may well not meet the requirement of perfection as mentioned above. This is not
a major problem. No one is ever perfect therefore God’s land would be a barren
land if perfection referred to our own personal efforts. Fortunately it does
not.
After many years I have realised that God’s forgiveness
allows us to return to a point of perfection repeatedly. As humans, we should have the intention in our heart to be perfect
however we cannot maintain this state as sins will occur when we unwittingly
stray off course. Intentional sin is an entirely different matter however God’s
promise to us is that He will forgive all sin provided we are truly repentant.
Of course, there are times when this may seem unfair!! Especially when we hear of
people repenting on their death beds after a lifetime filled with abundant
wrong doing. How does this make you feel or impact on
you? The answer is that if you truly love yourself and God you should be quite
comfortable with it. The important thing is that we are all given the opportunity to enter God’s
kingdom and have been told countless times that the only person who can judge
anyone is God Himself.
It takes maturity to grasp the apparent ‘unfairness’ in the
world and in all things we need to consider our own thoughts and actions, these
need to be our priorities. When we are focused and full of gratitude for all the good
things in our lives more good follows both to us individually and those around.
This will always help us to a great outlook and perspective on each new situation.
Initially God created a paradise however man messed it up. Fortunately much of
the beautiful land still remains to be cared for and appreciated. We are living in
God’s land every day and some of us are fortunate to own a piece of it! What we
need to realise is that we have been promised a beautiful future in the next
life where God truly reigns and everything will be exactly as he ordained. Now
that really is something to look forward to. In the meantime, just continue being as upright as you can
until one day you enter the true realms of perfection!
Jaz McKenzie
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