There are a lot of expectations in this life; expectations from our self, our spouse, our children, our teachers, our employer, our friends, our church, our neighbors, and our society.
How many of us can say, we have met all expectations?
G.K. Chesterton was asked by someone what was wrong with the world. He simply replied, “I am.”
Modern society has schooled a generation to cultivate self-esteem while they pursue their passions and self-fulfillment above everything else. For them the answer of “I am” for their shortcomings is not acceptable. They can name a number of things for their failures, from genetics, to bad teachers, to failed parenting.
Still, whether we can admit it or not, there is still that uneasy sense of our true self. Something in us tells us we don’t measure up. We have failed.
I grew up feeling that I never measured up to my dad, who was a very competent carpenter and jack-of-all trades. He taught me a lot about building, farming, and hunting, and making things work with what one had at hand, but he was also very critical of all my mistakes. I transferred these perceptions of a dad to God.
I viewed God as also very competent at what He does, but yet very critical of my not measuring up to His expectations. I was always ready for His rebukes, even though my first experience of Him was total love and acceptance.
Even Adam and Eve had trouble measuring up.
God made everything good, but a wrong choice brought a curse of death and an inherited sin nature. At first glance, it seems this is totally unfair. Why should I pay for the sins of my ancestors? But upon closer inspection we find that we all indeed do sin. We all have an innate inclination to do the wrong thing.
We are quick to blame Adam and Eve, saying we would have done differently; but would have we?
Consider the teenager who got pregnant and now is a single mother without a husband, or the drug addict who gave in to, “Try it; you’ll like it!” Or the alcoholic who had fun getting drunk with his/her friends, but now can’t go without a drink to calm the nerves or to deal with stress. Or the broken families due to one parent seeking what should have been offered at home, causing children to grow up in dysfunctional homes.
Each choice and each act brings consequences, and leaves us all not measuring up. Many times we determine to make the wrong choice, even when we know it to be a wrong choice, even when we know it will bring adverse consequences to all around us.
Even a child, when told not to do something, watches for an opportunity to do it anyway. Children have to be taught to do what is right. They are born with knowledge of how to do what is wrong. Hence the many ills of our society can be traced back to the many homes without two parents and the proper role models to follow. All a lot of children and young people know is what is portrayed by their single parent who many times is dealing with their own stress with drugs or alcohol or other bad behaviors, or they disengage from the parent, and model their own behavior on media idols, which for the most part promotes all that is ungodly behavior as the norm.
We doubt the boundaries set by our parents, and we doubt the same with God. We test them to see if the threatened consequences of disobedience will come to pass. We soon find with our parents whether they are all talk, or if they really do enforce what they expect.
God allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions instead of striking us dead immediately, while withdrawing close fellowship with us. Adam and Eve could have lived forever inside the Garden of Eden, but once they sinned, spiritual death and physical death set in. Spiritual death came immediately as they were ushered out of God’s Holy Presence, where sin cannot dwell. Physical death took place more slowly, allowing them years to experience their wrong choices.
Our wrong choices can cost us immediate damage in our human relationships, while it seems that we get by with anything bad coming to us from God. In reality, we immediately notice our lack of desire for the spiritual things of God and notice each time we look in the mirror that we are getting one day closer to the grave.
Wrong choices can bring abuse to our physical bodies a long time, but one day we will die with bodies that have been damaged by wrong behaviors in this life.
Just as I still love my dad based upon my knowledge and experience that he truly does love me, I know that God loves me by my personal experience and knowledge with Jesus Christ and His love for me even when I have been in my darkest hours; He is there.
None of us can measure up in our own power.
- This is why Jesus Christ died for us
- why He paid the price for our sins
- why He became a fleshly body so He could experience all that you and I experience
- why He overcame the inherited nature of Adam by conquering death hell and the grave
He poured out of His Holy Spirit to live within our human spirit to empower us to be able to withstand the desire to do the wrong thing. His Holy Spirit gives New Birth to our human spirit. He gives us spiritual Light to see the right choice, to desire what pleases Him above ourselves.
Jesus took the wrath, the harsh criticisms of our Heavenly Father, and turned it into love, mercy, grace, and acceptance. An acceptance based on His righteousness, not our own. He knows we are sinners and sinful, yet He made a way for us to overcome the wrong and do the right. We just have to ask for His help.
The problem is, “I am.” So, Jesus became the Great I Am in flesh. My measuring up to the Heavenly Father is all taken care of in Jesus Christ.
