Resetting to True North: Fragile, Grateful, and Grounded
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Happy Wednesday, and welcome to our midweek His Path Daily Route Update!
Whether we’re behind the wheel or walking with CHRIST, it’s easy to get distracted, drift off course, or just lose focus. Midweek is a great time to pause, recalibrate, and realign with our True North. It’s been a few days since many of us gathered for worship on the Lord’s Day—and this is a great time to reset our direction and refresh ourselves on the journey HE has planned for us.
Gratefulness and Thankfulness
These two words have been pressed heavily on my heart over the past few days. The LORD has allowed me to experience an unplanned and unexpected “fasting of sleep”—some call it insomnia! In these days—which, for me, are incredibly hard when they happen—I begin to realize so much that I don’t want to forget.
Before I get to those, I also wanted to mention something else I often realize in these times: how fragile I am. Certainly in and of myself, but also how it reminds me of my fragility apart from CHRIST. A few days of no sleep or poor sleep can strip away so much of my strength, focus, and drive. Sure, that may be expected—we are designed for rest—but my simple point is to show just how weak we are. I can go from running around the home, work, and neighborhood (actual jogging!) to having everything come nearly to a screeching halt.
Life is fragile. I am fragile. But CHRIST is not.
May I not chase busyness, sleep, affirmations, or reassurance—but may I chase CHRIST.
So I guess that’s the bonus point of this journal entry! These times are like forced reassessments—like colliding with another vehicle and thinking to yourself, “What just happened?”
Honestly, I won’t really know this side of the New Creation—and maybe even then I won’t know, because I won’t care. Sure, maybe there’s something chemical in me. Maybe it’s personality traits. Maybe it’s very real things going on in my life. Yet whatever the reason, GOD is still sovereign.
As R.C. Sproul reminded us often: “There are no maverick molecules.” In other words, if there’s a molecule outside of GOD’s control, then GOD is not truly sovereign—and therefore, we are without hope. So if molecules fall under the lordship of CHRIST, then certainly my lack of sleep does too. Given or allowed—it’s still HIS purpose.
So where does all this lead me?
Well, while I’m in no way claiming to “hear from the LORD,” it does seem interesting that in the messages, books, and passages I’ve been reading, gratefulness and thankfulness have been very high on the conviction radar these past few months.
And you know what I’ve done with it?
Not much.
During this bout of insomnia, it really opened my eyes (again) to the immeasurable common blessings all around me that I simply take for granted.
And while it’s taking a bit to get to my main point, it would pale in comparison to the amount of time it would take me to list the “little things” (that—as we are so often reminded—are really the best things) that I’ve taken for granted.
We deserve nothing—and we’ve been given everything.
The Son of GOD literally shed His blood to appease the wrath of GOD that we fully deserved.
Never get lost in the heresy that CHRIST came merely to show us how to love, that bad people put Him to death, and now our mission is to love others because “Jesus is love and we are bad.”
No!
It’s amazing how a collection of half-truths can sound so loving, yet guide people straight to hell.
JESUS died because it was the good pleasure of the Father to do so—not man’s idea (“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief...” — Isaiah 53:10).
But why JESUS? Because “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” — Isaiah 53:6
Why did He do this?
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 6:23
But why would He do that to His Son?
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16
So did JESUS come to show us love?
Absolutely—but so much more than that.
Are we bad?
Yes—but so much worse than “bad” when compared to a holy and perfect GOD.
Did we deserve hell?
Absolutely. All humanity is deserving of hell—and apart from His intervention, that’s where we were headed (Ephesians 2:3; Romans 3:10–18).
And to say we were not—and that the Father put His SON to death for no reason—is blasphemy and denial.
So first and foremost, can we be thankful and grateful for this—that if we are following CHRIST, we have been redeemed from the pit and adopted by the Creator of the world?
It’s sad (and all too relatable) that I myself can begin to take this for granted after walking with the LORD for about 18 years now. Yet I’m thankful for opportunities to write these things down, because doing so helps me become more thankful and grateful. (Little plug for journaling!)
Then… once we can see that—look around.
Look around at what this Good Father has given to His child.
By now I hope you know I’m not talking about square footage or MSRP.
There may be painful things you carry—things that are no longer here.
But there are still countless blessings if you look.
Through these periods of struggle, I can’t help but notice them more:
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The simple joy of baking a loaf of bread
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Having my wife beside me in bed
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Hearing my children laugh in another room
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Watching sunlight hit my skin
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Seeing birds at the feeder
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Listening to my dog snore while I work
And the list goes on… and on… and on.
So I plan to strive (and yes, I know I’ll fail miserably sometimes), but I plan to strive to be more grateful and thankful in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead—as GOD allows.
I have no idea if this is even part of His purpose in my current struggle, but what I do know is this:
I’ve noticed my lack of gratefulness. I’ve seen how I’ve brushed past so many prompts.
And now, I want to respond.
Chase CHRIST, not the things of this world.
We are so very fragile—and He is so very not.
Be thankful and grateful for the Father sending the Son.
Be thankful and grateful for the Son’s open and willing sacrifice.
Be thankful and grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit—God Himself—dwelling in us and guiding us as His children.
And finally—be thankful and grateful in the countless other ways you can be in your life.
But don’t expect perfection. You are not GOD.
Yet strive forward, even as you stumble, to be a grateful and thankful Christian—and in doing so, bring glory to Him.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)
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