John 10:10 tells us clearly that we serve a God who came to give us a life better than we could have ever imagined on our own. Then why is it that so many “Christians” live in defeat?

We come to Jesus as we are; broken and tainted from all of the uninvited chaos and filth that has settled in the darkest and deepest crevices of our heart.  He takes us into His arms and begins to wash away the stains of sin. He carefully and lovingly takes the shards created by rejection and puts the pieces of our life back together again. For some it is instantaneous, for others a process. However it comes about, we are a new creation in the truest sense of the word. We come to realize the Peace that surpasses all understanding, as we fall in love with the One who loved us first.

Yet, for many, this perfect peace is short lived. At the first sign of suffering, we want to return to our old fleshly ways. But why? The start of the same verse in John 10 plainly uncovers the answer. It says that the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. We quickly give up our peace in order to defend ourselves and control the situation our way. The enemy doesn’t even have to put up a real fight with us.

Proverbs 3 tells us to trust in Him and not lean on our own understanding; to acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our paths. There are many things that we can not control, no matter how much we try. There are things that we want to do and can do, but they don’t line up with His truth. When we put Him first and put our trust in Him, we avoid the unrest that comes with worry or selfish manipulation in order to get our way.  When we trust Him, we find the abundant life that Jesus promises. Even when life seems to be falling apart around us, we have a unexplainable peace because we trust that He is in control.