Misused Strength

Today's Passages: 1 Peter 1 & 4

Scripture:
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:13

Observation:
Prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit and fix your hope. Three simple commands, three really difficult orders to obey.

Application:
The first order in this passage is to prepare my mind for action. Given that I am an adult who suffers with ADD; this is not so easy for me. My mind is all over the place. It often feels like I'm trying to watch TV with my finger holding down on the channel button. The randomness with which my mind operates creates issues for me being prepared.

That said, I believe that the world is wrong in saying that my mind is dysfunctional. I think that God wired me to be who I am. His word tells me that I am beautifully and wonderfully made. He tells me that he formed me. His word also tells me that He does not ask me to do something that I am not capable of completing. Instead of thinking of all the reasons that I can't do this, I need to focus on the things I know I can do.

The second order in this passage is to keep sober in spirit. I have a temper. Actually that is a bit of an under statement, sort of like saying the stock market has some losses. Certain things flip a switch inside of me and I can get ticked in a hurry. I have worked on this over the years and gotten much better at controlling it. But as I think about it this morning I realize that I have only gotten better at outward expressions of my temper because I still carry a lot of inner anger.

Being sober spiritually seems to me to mean that I maintain control of my emotions and priorities. It is ok to have anger as long as I harness into passion. It is ok to get my feathers ruffled as long as it is not based on self-centered pride.

The third order in this passage is to fix my hope completely Christ. Of the three, this one contains the most challenges. There are so many things in the world that compete with this. Money. Advancement. Possessions. Family. Pleasure. Trips. Hobbies. Entertainment.

As I look at that list I realize that there is not a single thing there that is innately evil. These things only become evil when they are misused. There are many ways to misuse them, but this morning I am really thinking about the times I put my hope in these things. There are moments when I think if I only had _____; then I would feel better. When I do this, I am fixing my hope in something other than God.

Prayer:
Sometimes when I assess myself it is tempting to wonder what You were thinking when You designed me. So much about my nature seems to work against me succeeding. The randomness of my thoughts, the explosiveness of my emotions, and the my heart's ability to dream come together to create the core of who I am. I have spent the majority of my life fighting against these things.

As I sit here this morning I realize two mistakes in my approach. First, I can't do it on my own. There is absolutely nothing I can do on my own to change anything about myself. The second thing I realize is that I am not broken. You made me to be who I am. I will always have random thoughts every three seconds and lack the ability to pay attention. My emotions will never be even and smooth. My heart will always dream huge dreams and so I will never be good with staying put. These three things are the abc's of who I am. They are my core strengths.

I ask that You help me learn how to use them for Your glory and give me the strength to avoid their ability to tear me down. I know that You equipped me with these abilities for a certain purpose and I ask that my life come into alignment with that. Help me to gain control of these misused strengths and become the man You desire me to be. A man whose mind is prepared for action, whose spirit is sober and whose hope is set on You.