By Logan Engle, Lay Leader at First Baptist Church, Erwin, Tenn.
“Have Mine Own Way, Lord! Have Mine Own Way! I am the potter, I am the clay. I’ll mold me; I’ll make me after my will, while You are waiting, yielded and still.”
Have you ever tried to have your own way? I recently read The Good & Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith. Smith writes, “We are creatures who live by our stories.” Our stories, then and now, convince us to will ourselves to meet unachievable standards to be loved by our good God. That’s certainly not the God Jesus knew! It’s the God we create as we project our own narratives heavenward. The Galatian church battled these old stories as they trusted in their own law-based works and found themselves under a curse (v.10). Instead, Christ came to the earth to spread a gospel of faith, “so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (v.14).
Like the Galatians, we wish to have our own way. We want to meet standards we’ve set for ourselves, those we believe our family and friends expect, or assume God requires. We shackle ourselves to a performative gospel based on what we can do to meet a standard we have set. We sing a jumbled-up version of a familiar hymn that focuses on what we can mold—not how God molds us through the transformative power of the cross.
As we near the end of Advent, I hope you’ve used this time of anticipation for examination: to make room to give and receive; give up your desire for your own will; make room for God’s way in your life—both in Jesus’ birth and in His second Advent. Even if you don’t, He’ll come in His own sweet kairos!
Reflect
When have you sought to have your own way?
How has the fear of measuring up to an unachievable or human-made standard affected your life—at home, at work, at school, at play, at church?
Making Room is a daily devotional through Christmas from the CBF family, with two guides—one for adults and one for children and families—featuring reflections and simple activities for home, Sunday school or worship. Find the Making Room Advent resource here.