Freedom from Restlessness

We live in an extremely restless culture, the average American moves 11.7 times in their lifetime and 1 in 6 of us will move this year (according to the U.S. Census Bureau).  I once heard that the average American teenager receives 3,000 messages about their identity a day through the media.  I recently heard of a news story where parents of a 10 or 11 year old playing baseball attacked another parent because of a dispute about the game.  We live in a society of people on the edge:  competitive, angry, restless, lonely, anxious, driven, agitated, stressed, hurried, frustrated, and unfulfilled.  The average age of the onset of an anxiety disorder is 11 years old, 40 million people in America will be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder this year, and 43% of Americans take a mood altering prescription.  There are a whopping 77% of us who report regular physical symptoms caused by stress and 73% of Americans report psychological symptoms caused by stress.  Most will acknowledge that there are problems and yet the solutions that are being offered are not leading to the freedom so many of us long for.  I submit to you that we are so restless because we are living as orphans trying to make our own way, provide for all our own needs, be in control of life, and be independent and self-sufficient.  Yet the results of this kind of living and belief system are a society on the edge.  "The Lie" in the Garden of Eden told by the first orphan (satan) was that we really didn't need God, that we could be "wise in our own eyes" and even said that we would not die if we live a life independent of God.  Yet in 1 John 5 the Bible is blatantly direct, "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."  I think Charles Spurgeon says it well about the results of trusting in an orphan heart, “Great tribulation brings out the great strength of God. If you never feel inward conflicts and sinking of soul, you do not know much of the upholding power of God; but if you go down, down, into the depths of soul-anguish till the deep threatens to shut her mouth upon you, and then the Lord rides upon a cherub and does fly, yea, rides upon the wings of the wind and delivers your soul, and catches you away to the third heaven of delight, then you perceive the majesty of divine grace. Oh, there must be the weakness of man, felt, recognised, and mourned over, or else the strength of the Son of God will never be perfected in us.” (Spurgeon)  The only benefit in diagnosing America as an "orphan society" is to point us toward the invitation of a loving Heavenly Father who has done everything to bring us home to His love.  It was recently said by Leif Hetland a well-known evangelist to the Muslims, that there are 400,000 churches in America and 400,000 orphanages.  So we cannot condemn our culture because this culture is in our churches.  I love that in John 14:18 Jesus says, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."  Did Jesus come to us and fulfill His promise?  Yes and Yes, He has completed the work that the Father would give us the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Adoption to make us sons and daughters of God.  Earlier in the same chapter Jesus talks of going to prepare a home/mansion/place for us in the Father's house and then bringing us to this place.  The Gospel has always been about a loving Father bringing his lost orphan children home to be with Him for all eternity.  We long for a true home and a real homecoming, a place where we know we are totally accepted, loved, appreciated, celebrated, and even enjoyed.  This home is not to lose 5 more pounds, have a little more money, get that marital issue resolved, have children who behave better, get that next promotion, or whatever the latest commercial says I need to have life.  Our culture and media offer the counterfeit of true transformation, true transformation involves changing some one's identity, relationship with God, and relationship with others.  The Gospel is the only way home, all other ways lead us to disappointment, depression, despair, more striving, or disillusionment.

Coming to Rest in Him,
Bret