Kept

Written by cycleguy on July 14th, 2013

We are taught, by both Christian and non-Christian psychologists, that we are a product of our environment.  Some like to use that as an excuse for their actions.  Now…I am not denying the fallout from mistreatment, abuse, addiction of any kind, etc.  And while I will admit that our upbringing does play a large part in who we become, we must never leave out the “God-thing” that happens.  With the promise of a new life and becoming a new person, we do ourselves a great disservice when we always fall back on “I was raised such-and-such a way so I am the way I am.”

I realize that is a surface statement and may sound bad, but please hear me out.  Because what I want to talk about is NOT psychological matters, but spiritual matters.

Growing up I was raised in a conflicting religious environment.  I don’t mean at home, but at church.  While my earliest memories all through my Junior year of High School were of a more “Baptist” background, my later memories couldn’t have been more convoluted and opposite.  A new pastor held different views, especially on two key doctrines.  I chose to attend a college that was more in line with the latter beliefs.  I then chose, for the next 25 years, to espouse those beliefs.  About 1995 I awoke from my stupor and began to think for myself.   Okay, so I used the Bible which should go without saying.  🙂   But I stopped spouting the party line.  One struggle I had was the faithfulness of God.

Now here is where I go back to my first paragraph.

I have stated on this blog (but don’t know where), that I often felt my father’s acceptance of me was based on my athletic ability, particularly baseball.  When I began to play basketball (8th grade), that interest waned.  Big time.  His interest was sketchy.  A divorce when I was in my mid 20s, drove him in and out of my life as he felt.

Hmmm…so God must also be in and out of my life as well.  Like father; like Father.   I sin; He disappears.  I perform well; He sticks around.  The cycle repeats itself.  That is when God woke me up and helped me to see His approval of me-His presence in my life- was in no way tied to my performance of good vs evil.   He was not like my earthly father;  He was my heavenly Father.  He was faithful no matter what.  He loved me no matter what.  He was going to stick with me no matter what.   I cannot even begin to tell you how freeing that was!

I NOW LIVE TODAY KNOWING I AM KEPT BY HIM.  I AM SURROUNDED BY HIS LOVING ARMS.  HE WILL NOT LEAVE ME!  Do you need to know that?  How about also checking out this song by one of my new favorite groups.

Any thoughts?

 

45 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    Has the solidity of your relationship with God been correlated with how well your life happens to be going at any given time? I find that to often be the case in my life. While I work hard not to blame God when things don’t go my way, I think that there is usually an undercurrent of that blame present at a subconscious level.

    • cycleguy says:

      I would be lying if I said I didn’t struggle at times. In fact, now is one of them. But I have to keep coming back to remembering His promises. As I mature in my faith, the solidity of my relationship strengthens and I waver less. Did that answer your question?

      • Daniel says:

        Actually my question was more rhetorical. I think this correlation is there for most folks. Why can’t being a Christian be easier and allow for monotonic growth and maturity? Why all this two steps forward, three steps back stuff at times?

  2. Rick Dawson says:

    Count me among those who will never be among those who wallow in victim status. What happened to me was horrible, but God was working from early on to make certain I would know who He was and what I meant to him.

    I was never able to get my father’s approval – I already have Our Father’s approval. Not of my behavior, or thoughts, or words – any of those may have been leading to death – but of me, as I was, where I was. He won’t leave me, and I’ve done my time wallowing with the pigs.

    • cycleguy says:

      My original writing of the post talked about victimhood but I changed it. I tend to think many use it as a crutch for never moving on, or in some cases to garner sympathy. I am not discounting it; that is just the truth. Glad you found the Father’s approval. 🙂

  3. There have been some things happen, especially over the last couple of years, where I could have questioned his goodness and faithfulness. Instead, I’ve seen where He has guided me over over this past year or so to where He wants me and how He has been molding me.

  4. Kari Scare says:

    My dad has been aloof my whole life, and my view of God used to be skewed by that. God has shown me that He is anything but aloof. Learning to let God – not my parents of anyone else – define who He is has been a tremendous struggle and growth process for me. God is teaching me that it’s His will & not other’s opinions that need to direct my life.

  5. Phil says:

    I grew up in a pretty stable background. That’s not to say there haven’t been those moments of questioning, but the questions have almost been more to point back to His faithfulness. Great thoughts Bill, I appreciate your openness here.

    • cycleguy says:

      I “envy” someone who had a stable background like you and Jason. But I am also glad for the lessons I have learned because of mine. No matter what it comes back to His faithfulness. Thanks for nice words.

  6. jeff says:

    For some people I suppose this makes some sense. For me, I don’t want a new life and I like the person I am. I have never felt like any “God thing” was going on. I certainly don’t want to think of myself as being kept. I take care of myself and need no supernatural intervention. I make no apologies or excuses.
    But if it makes people happy I am all for it.

  7. floyd says:

    Even when we know this truth I think it’s the mouth of God when it is shared in this manner and is a blessing to hear it again. The truth of God’s grace as manifested in the lives of others and them sharing it reminds us of that truth in our lives. Yes. I needed to be reminded of my Father’s love and grace, Bill. He’s at every event…

  8. I did need to know that. Thank you for telling me 🙂

  9. tcavey says:

    Thanks for your honesty here, both Christians and non-christians need to hear this message. God isn’t like anything we can compare Him to and we do a great disservice to ourselves and others when we don’t know who God is and who we are created to be IN Him.

    This post goes nicely with some of the comments on my post today about being authentic in our walks with Christ. That means we have to take the time to know who we are in Christ in order to show the world an Authentic Love of God.

    • cycleguy says:

      i reckon honesty has its good point? LOL J/k of course. Totally agree that God isn’t like anything we can compare Him to. have to check out your post TC. I have been really busy today (as evidenced by being behind in my responses). Thanks.

      • jeff says:

        I have to chime in here. Mr Tavey says we (I) do a great disservice to myself and others when we don’t know who God is. I don’t know who God is and neither does he. He and I have never met God.
        The point tho is that Christian believers need to understand that they shouldn’t accuse non-believers of being a disservice to others.
        I would gladly match my record of helping others with any theist of any stripe.
        Authentic?

        • Betty Draper says:

          Going to jump in here Jeff…you are a man of faith, faith in yourself, in your good deeds. You can meet God Jeff, he wrote a whole bunch of books called the Bible to tell the world who He is. How He created the very world we live on, man and woman, the stars we sleep under, all the elements of the world, and so much more. It’s all there in the Bible, His story about even you…He knew you before your mother even knew she was pregnant with you. Read for yourself Psalm 139:13-16 Again you may not know God but He loves you anyway and wants you to know Him.

          • Betty Draper says:

            Bill, I will not be upset if you do not let this comment to Jeff be shown.

            • jeff says:

              Bill knows the comment is not going to bother me and is no doubt what you truthfully believe. I just don’t happen to believe, nor have I ever seen any evidence to suggest, that God wrote any books. I have faith in a lot of things including myself. Some people need a God and some don’t. I am one who doesn’t require a supernatural explanation for things or an invisible friend in the sky. And it’s ok with me if some people do.

            • cycleguy says:

              I will allow comments Betty if they are in good taste and not adversarial to the point of obnoxiousness. For example, I do not agree with Jeff (or sometimes others for that matter) but allow comments because of the discussion factor. If I think they are healthy and bring to the table something worth thinking about then I will allow it. Hence, I allowed Jeff’s and now yours. 🙂

        • cycleguy says:

          I do think Jeff that TC was referring to Christians in her comment. I may be wrong, but in my mind followers of Jesus do a great disservice to others when we give a false idea of what He is.

          • jeff says:

            I agree it would have made more sense if she hadn’t mentioned her wisdom was also for non-Christians. “Who God is” really is of no interest or importance to me and certainly doesn’t indicate any disservice to others.

  10. Ed says:

    I think that God is always there, despite our sins. He’s never an “absent” father, and he’s never a deadbeat father either. God sent His only beloved Son to us, so that whosever shall believe in Him shall have eternal life.” Jst because we sin doesn’t mean that God will abandon us, if that were the case, we wouldn’t have the Holy Spirit there to reprimand us the way that it does.

  11. Rodney Olsen says:

    I know exactly what you mean yet it’s something we all need to be reminded of much of the time. There is always the tendency to slip back into faulty thinking about God’s love for us.

  12. Mike says:

    What you’re talking about makes me think of “Wild at Heart” regarding letting other people validate us. I did that for years, and my mood was very much affected by how others, including family thought about me, or my opinion, or decisions. When I realized that it is God who validates us, I could put my focus where it needed to be, and not let my past pepper my future and present so much.

    • cycleguy says:

      I did what you did for many years Mike. i relied on what others thought of me. I was a people-pleaser and put a lot of emphasis on how I was perceived.

  13. Betty Draper says:

    Love the song Bill. We only know the fringes of Him but it is enough to hold onto when all else fails. He never fails, always loves us. Great post.

  14. Jan Frame says:

    As you know, this is a lifelong struggle for me, comparing our God to my earthly dad. Just when I think I’ve got in conquered, backwards I go, but it has gotten better. Just one of those things I have to be mindful of and continually stay in the word and know that my Father in heaven is always with me. Great post & discussion.

    • cycleguy says:

      Back and forth seems to be one of those things when it comes to this topic Jan. Little steps at a time are what is needed.

  15. I think back to my parents – and even though they were loving people, a lot of the way I look at life is based off of the approval and love I wanted from them. The thing is it didn’t matter what they really did, it mattered what I felt. Even if my feelings were illogical and not based on reality. So it really makes me think about how I’ll have to communicate to my sons.