I'm Desperate for You
One of my favorite worship CD's is Michael W. Smith's "Worship." Actually, he put out two CD's on worship, both recorded live. Each of them are excellent.
This morning on KGNZ they played from that CD the song, "Breathe." The chorus repeats a simple phrase: "I'm lost without you. I'm desperate for you." When I first heard Michale W. Smith sing this song I thought, "Why would he feel desperate? He seems to have everything in life -- and incredibly successful music career, a beautiful family, tons of money, the looks of a GQ model." And then I realize that no matter how well life may go for us on this earth, if we belong to Christ we'll always feel this yearning, this sense that what the world offers is not enough. And that we're all weak and needy and in desperate need of the presence of our Savior. We truly are lost without Him!
It's so interesting how that song paralleled what I read this morning. The Lord told Gideon to reduce his army down to 300 men. And then face a huge Midianite army of 135,000. That's a ratio of one man against 450! But of course we all know why the Lord ordered Gideon to scale down his team of fighting man to such a minute size: "in order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her." (Judges 7:2)
I have a confession to make: I don't want to feel weak. I hate being in the position of feeling desperate. My flesh keeps pulling me in the direction of self-sufficiency. And yet if I stayed in this position of believing I can handle life on my own, who gets the credit? And what then is the point of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives if we don't sense this strong need to rely on His strength?
All too often I do feel desperate. Sometimes it's a quiet desperation. But it's there nonetheless. I need the Lord. I really am lost without Jesus. I cannot handle life on my own. I need the presence of Jesus day by day. Hour by hour.
And what better companion could we have then the presence of the living Christ? As my friend Bill Nash used to say, paraphrasing the first three steps of the 12 steps: "I can't. He can. I think I'll let Him."
Jim
posted by Jim Clark @ 8:00 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Jim-
Desperately needing Jesus is our design default. It's what we are supposed to do. Look at the examples he uses:
We are his sheep and he is our shepherd.
He is the vine and we are the branches.
Every example Jesus uses for us to understand who he is tells us of this desperation. Imagine a sheep without a shepherd, a branch without a vine. Nothing brings us closer to Jesus than realizing how deeply we need him, then realizing he is right here, where we can touch him.
Now, switch gears and imagine a vine that isn't in constant contact with its branches or a shepherd who keeps his distance from the sheep. Not happenin'.
We really are like Peter...walking on water but terrified of the wind and waves. Jesus is still there, wanting us to stand on our faith, but willing to stretch out his hand at a moment's notice.
That's a really good system, I think.
Bill Nash...I love it..may needlepoint that one on a pillow..
Thanks, G-ampa C, for sharing that wonderful imagery that Jesus gives us about how vitally dependent we are on Him as His children.
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