Helicopter Flight

An illustration was presented to me by a dear friend yesterday, and it really allowed me to see things more clearly. It was based on the verses from Ephesians 2:4-7.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

We all have mountains in our lives that we need to conquer in some way, and they can usually seem extremely daunting. I know mine always feel that way, but the mountains don't have to continue to be so scary. This friend told me to picture myself at the base of a mountain. Looking up and thinking about what it would take to get to the top makes the whole process seem completely impossible. But all of a sudden a helicopter comes down, and the pilot offers a ride. He offers to take me to the TOP. I decide to accept and climb inside. We gradually rise to the top, and what I can now see is incredible. It is a whole new perspective -- I can see so many things below and around. This mountain has been conquered, and I did not have to fight as hard as I thought I might need to. I actually did not have to DO anything...I simply had to take the ride.

This is how the Lord wants me to be. I keep trying to figure everything out and DO whatever I can to make things right, but that's not what all of this is about. He wants me to LET Him conquer my mountains. I can't do it by myself, and the more I try, the more I will fall. This whole time I have been thinking that it is all about how hard I try and all about what I can do, when it is not about that at all. It's not my responsibility to figure things out. God will show me what I need to let go of or how He wants to work in me. I don't need to constantly worry myself about being perfect. For one, I could never perfect myself. And two, all God wants to do is love me and give me his grace and mercy. I make things so complicated when they don't need to be that way. I tend to WORK so hard to be a certain type of person, but that is just not necessary. I think letting all of this really sink in will take a little time, but I am continuing to learn about this grace and that it is not about works at all. Thank goodness for that. God's grace is freely given, even though that is hard to accept and understand sometimes. I know I tend to think that I don't deserve this grace and this love, but He still gives it all anyway. He LOVES no matter what. NO. MATTER. WHAT.