boyradd

What If I Stumble

“What if I stumble. What if I fall. What if I lose my step and make fools of us all. Will the love continue when the walk becomes a crawl. What if I stumble and what if I fall.” – DC Talk

Those lyrics define me.  At least they are a little easier to understand than what Paul said in Romans 7:15:  “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Really Paul? 5 times using the word “do?”)

I have a tendency of speaking about Christ, His commandments, His apologetics, His laws, and the reason we should continually follow what He says.  But I also have a tendency to not always do that which I should.

When I stumble, I can’t help but think of my past.

You see, God makes us righteous.  But if we saw all of our sin at one time, it would overload and devastate us.  So God takes small steps in our lives that create improvements in our behavior, our ability to live holy lives, and our overall lives.

So in my past, I remember a kid who, in college, spent a lot of time drinking.  Now drinking is not wrong, but I didn’t just drink one or two.  I drank to get drunk.  And when I did, I would slip more into sin.  That translated to a lot of my adult life.  Even after getting married and having a family, there would times that I would get drunk.  And when I did, my eyes would wander.

But guess what.  That is the “past Fred.”  It has been a few years, at least 3-4 since I drank in excess or even HAD a drink to speak of.  God has turned me away from drinking and my life is much more full because of it.

But I am still not perfect.

I have quite a few other areas of my life where I still stumble.

While Romans 7:15 talks about Paul hating that he still does the stuff he hates in his life, Romans 11:11 gives us hope.  “Again I ask:  Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?  Not at all!”

Even though we may stumble, we are never too far gone.  We are never out for good.  We are never down for the count.  There is hope.

That hope is what comes through Jesus Christ.  Giving my life to Christ has been the most amazing adventure I could ever ask for and it has led to a significantly better Fred.  I have chosen to do everything I can to follow Christ and what makes Him happy.

Why?

Because He laid down His life for me.  He came to this planet, was beaten, bruised, and crucified for ME.  He was resurrected for ME.  Even if I didn’t believe that I could claim the promises of Proverbs 16:3 (Commit to the Lord whatever you do and you will succeed), the fact that Christ did what He did over 2000 years ago makes my heart fill with so much love for Him that I want to make Him happy.

Do I still stumble?  Yes.  Does it hurt Christ?  Yes.  Do I feel hurt because of it?  Yes.  But I can’t stay sad for long because I know that it is simply one more step closer to complete righteousness, living a life that would make Him proud to say to me “Well done good and faithful servant.”

So as you stumble, don’t focus on what you did that caused you to stumble.  Focus on Christ and what He did to bless your soul.  You will find that the love of Christ will overflow inside of you and that you will emanate joy, unending and unceasing joy.