Double-Minded, Me?

James 4:7-10 – Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (NIV)

The Lord has prompted me, in the past, not to be double-minded. At the time, I was a bit hurt, and said, "Surely not I?" As far as I was concerned, I was not — in any way — double-minded. I was, so I thought, sold out for God, and He should have known it. Sadly, He did know exactly where I was.

As I become more familiar with The Way, I have come to recognize areas of my life that are not, in reality, totally given over to Him, regardless of whatever I have said or however I have acted. My self-centredness gets in the way. I want so many things. When we are squeezed by life, it is an education to see what peeps out from underneath the facade.

I had an example today. I wanted to interact with someone from a self-centred point of view. I am glad to say that for once I saw it coming, so I was able to submit this thought into Jesus' care and know His safety. I believe, consequently, that what the person saw, as we talked, was Jesus in me, not the child within jumping about like a four-year-old saying, "Look at me, me, me!" — getting in the way of the message! As a result, when a question was asked of me, I was able to point the person in the right direction, just because I was in the right place. In myself I find it hard to be humble. The world tells me, with all its self-seeking, that this is not something to be acquired.

I do desire to come near to God because this is His place of safety, love and peace. His promise is that as I reach out to Him I will find Him.

Prayer: Lord, today as we come before you, forgive us our failures, strengthen us at our point of need, and send us back out into the world as your disciples with the courage to take you with us wherever we are sent. Humble us, Lord, so that we do not to get in the way of your kingdom work through our lives. Amen.