MY NATIVE AIR

I can't believe the number of people who have said to me, "I am so happy that 2016 is over."  It was a strange year, wasn't it?  For many it was a troubling year in terms of relationships, health, job, financial stress, etc., etc. Some lost loved ones in death.  For them Christmas was not all that joyful.  There was terrorism throughout the world, violence on every continent, anger in just about every neighborhood, and deep-seated questions about whether these things are marking what the future will be for all of us. No doubt about it, it is a dangerous world in which we live.

Now we have entered into 2017 and many of us are doing so in a spirit of hope.  People of faith don't turn the world over to the forces of evil.  As a follower of Jesus I have a hope born of God and earned through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  For six years I have been in a struggle with cancer, and everyday I am reminded that life comes to us but just as importantly that by the grace of God we are enabled to choose the attitude and spirit by which we live.  So, I say, bring it on.  I don't know what 2017 holds but I know who holds me steady in the midst of whatever this year might look like.  And, in the midst of all the issues barreling down on us, I have peace.  I suspect if you are a follower of Jesus you have peace, too. Why not?  We just celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace.

The key to going forward in life is to take hold of the hand that has already taken hold of us, and to walk with Him day by day.  What does that look like?  It looks like faith.  Some would anoint our lives with fear.  Those of us who are of Jesus, though, are not about fear.  Our Savior says, "Fear not."  Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). 

Years ago the wonderful missionary, E. Stanley Jones said something I first ready some forty years ago.  It still resonates in my heart:

I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air.

How shall we live in 2017? I think we live with all the enthusiasm of people who have encountered the living God who daily says to you, "Fear not."  Is the world falling apart?  I'm not sure this is the question we most need to ask.  What we most need to ask is, "Is Jesus Lord?"  The Bible says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).   2017 isn't catching Jesus off guard.  He is not running to keep up with changing times.  Jesus is Lord.  This is our creed. 

So, in 2017 take hold of the hand that has already taken hold of your hand.  Tether your life to Jesus and get ready for what could be a wild and crazy ride, but a ride in the Sovereign embrace of the Lord of lords and King of kings.