At The Roots

Ps.32:³ [MSG] “When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. ⁴ the pressure never let up… ⁵ Then I let it all out… Suddenly the pressure was gone –my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. ⁶ These things add up…”

Unfortunately, unlike David, a lot of us sometimes are unable to connect the trouble we are in with the decisions we have made. We cannot connect the mess with the source. Most times, people are unable to see that where they are, was because of a particular path they chose to take. All they want is for God to mop up the mess. But God is saying, “We will deal with the mess but we need to sort out the source of the mess first.”

The illustration I am about to give is what some facilities use for psychiatric inmate evaluation before their discharge. They plug the sink in a bathroom, turn on the tap and let the bathroom become flooded with water. Then they take the inmate that is due for release into that bathroom, give the inmate a bathroom mop and tell the inmate to clean up the place. Some inmates remain there for twenty minutes, mopping the floor; meanwhile the water is still running. Such inmates are considered as unfit and so they just escort them back to the psych ward. Yet, there are some inmates that in less than two minutes, they turn off the tap and then continue to mop. Such inmates are certified fit to be released.

It is easy to look at the first set of inmates and say, “Just turn off the tap, silly!” But that is how some of us are with God. We leave the tap running, stop the sink and we are asking God to just take care of the mess. But God, because of His great love for us refuses. You need  to turn off that tap first. Have you made a connection between the mess and the source of the mess in your life or situation? That is actually the only way out.

Is it going to be “me” or is it going to be “Jesus”? It has to be Jesus and I pray that you see this and surrender to Him completely. I pray that your response to the question, “me or Jesus?” will always be, “Jesus!” If you are still at the infant stage where it is “me or me?” or still thinking life is about you, I pray that you will make that shift today. For some, God wants to promote you to “Jesus or Jesus?”

Prayer [song]: I surrender all to You! Everything I give to You, withholding nothing, withholding nothing. I give myself away, I give myself away so You can use me. Amen!