White knuckles

I am a White knuckle flyer - as a passenger on an airplane it means I am clinging to my seat for dear life.

Lets think about that for a second - is my strangle hold on the arm rest going to keep that plan in the sky? Is my terrified, jaw clenching, eyes squeezed shut expression going to help us get to our destination? Probably not- in fact it will probably just freak out the other passengers around me, they might even start to wonder if they should be holding on for dear life too.

If salvation is based on grace by faith - not of works (Ephesians 2:9) Then what about the rest of the ride - is it my job to keep the plane in the air? Is it my job to work work work to get to be a better person? Or is that sanctification also the act of Christ and all my working about as helpful as me clinging to the armrests in a 747?

I think it is a little bit of both - I have to have the desire, the willingness to surrender to Christ's will in my life - but after that point I do not think that it is my job to make a list of good goals, promises, and routines to keep me on my way to a front row seat in Heaven - I honestly think that is about as helpful as my white knuckles on an airplane - no help at all. Ephesians 2:10 says God saved me so that I could do the good things HE had planned for me long ago.

Ephesians is actually a really good book for this subject because it clearly illustrates the need to obey and the complete dependence on Christ that we have.

Ephesians 4:21-23
21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, -22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

My job is to let the Spirit work in my life. An ongoing remodel that is never quite finished - my job is not to keep all the things checked off my own personally satisfying, front row sitting, good rep building, redemption checklist - it is instead to surrender to, and completely focus on God's will.

Why do the apostle's lives look so amazing to us? How did they sit in jail cells and call for their manuscripts to finish a life's work? How did they endure beatings, sing while in chains, witness to jailers, encourage others and live lives worth our remembering?
The had surrendered to the purpose of God in their lives - not what they thought it should be, but what it was - and it completely transformed them -they did not rely on their own works, their own goody goody checklists, or their own ideas.  Ephesians talks about one of the "checklist" goals of that time - circumcision - and Paul addresses it as completely unneeded and worthless.
 So as I imagine Paul waiting in his cell to die, knowing the day comes soon, I do not hear him singing I wait for God - but I hear I wait with God.  Waiting, with Him, for His plans to be accomplished. Paul is under no disillusion that his life is his own, or that his good goals will save him, instead he writes Ephesians 5:10 "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord" and 5:17 "Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do."

Admitting Sin -Surrendering to God's salvation
Accepting His purpose - Receiving His sustaining strength
Allowing Him to do all the work - Sanctification

Working on your own - eternity in hell
Picking "good" goals and working towards them - exaustion and exile
Working to be a "better" person (aka sinner) - wandering in the desert until you die

My death grip on the arm rest isn't going to help fly the plane, so maybe I better realize that I am a passenger - and let the Pilot worry about the flying.

Amanda