Back To Jesus Alone

When you can't figure out whether to:

sit at His feet, walk in a manner worthy of His call, run the race with diligence,

When you can't remember:

the twenty-two characteristics of a good wife or husband, the seven steps of appeal to authority, the eight things to do when you are worried or the nine ways of love,

When the proof of authority is simply "they say":

"Have faith, just trust, let go and let God", "Just find the sin and repent", "Just love, have joy, receive peace and pray" and you can't figure out who "they" are,

When some Pastor / Preacher / Teacher / Evangelist / Prophet / Apostle, et al says:

"Hear the Word", "Read the Word", "Memorize the Word" "Study the Word", "Meditate on the Word," and you are lost in the middle of Leviticus or Lamentations, and even Luke is just too much,

When you hear:

"It's pre/mid/post/pan/all tribulation", "Don't take the 'mark'", "It's 'times, time and a half'" and You can't get through the next half hour,

When you hear testimonies of others:

raising the dead, praying all night, fasting forty days, leading thousands to the Lord, memorizing the entire Bible and you hear it from someone who hasn't done it, and they expect you to do it and you feel obligated,

When you hear:

"Have faith, work hard, repent, conquer, tithe, give, suffer, evangelize, make disciples, wait on Him, walk in Him, pick up your cross, claim your possessions, pray, fast, and you feel pulled in 16 different directions on a rack,

When it is:

home school, Christian school, public school, Sunday school, Bible school, the school of hard knocks, no school, and the discussion is heating up and you feel like skipping school all together,

When you are getting a multitude:

of letters, newsletters, magazines, etc from 700 CLUB, CBN, TBN, BOM, CCC, CFI, CFNI, CMA, CORE, IVF, LCM, POAC, WCCF, YFC, YWAM, and each of them contains a request and a return envelope:

When you can't figure out whether to:

wash the dishes, do the laundry, mow the lawn, fix the car or read,

When it is running the car to:

baseball, football, handball, volleyball, broomball, and everyone is having a ball but you, and you feel the car is your home and the road leads to nowhere,

When you are asked:

"How's it going at your church, your ministry?" and you know it really means "Ask me how it's going at mine," and you know you are about to hear about: increased miracles, money, numbers; new buildings, broadcasts, converts and you feel a failure,

When you hear about, and go to another conference that promises to "be it":

and you went, listened, prayed, paid, bought the books and tapes, tried it, and it didn't work, and the guy/girl left town and you're left wondering why it didn't work, what's wrong with me?

When you just heard another:

"Thus saith the Lord," that contradicted the last "word from the Lord", that was contrary to the previous "the Lord told me", and you finally get the picture that the Lord's name is being taken in vain,

© Jim May
Union Life Magazine - Nov/Dec 1995