In Me, You Live and Move and Have Your Being
March 8
Acts 17:28a “For in him we live and move and have our being.”
In my addiction, I was a very selfish person. I thought of one person, and one person only. Me. The addiction was all about me getting what I wanted, and it didn’t matter who or what I had to push out of the way or step on to satisfy the addiction. Addiction includes things like hiding, lying, manipulating, and cheating. Addicts will do one or more of these simultaneously to put their (selfish) needs as the top priority. This played out many times during my addiction. I believed I was the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. Who knows me better than I know myself? I thought it was up to me to determine my future.
It took many long and difficult years (decades) for me to realize that being the master of my fate and the captain of my soul was dangerous and ended in destruction and disaster. My future did not go the way I had planned, and I wasn’t prepared for the consequences that came into my life. My life did implode, and I wasn’t sure what my next steps would be. God felt distant and aloof. I convinced myself He didn’t care about me and that He was not faithful to His promises. I was angry, bitter, and filled with resentment. But, that all changed the night I surrendered to God.
In God, I live and move and have my being. When I walk with God and daily turn my life and will toward Him, I experience true living. The blessings of a true and real life happen only when I align myself with Him and what He desires. The heart of the Father is blessing and goodness and abundant life. I receive countless comforts and blessings from my Heavenly Father. God gives me life and supports me guiding and directing me every day. I was knit together (formed) in my mother’s womb with incredible precision and detail. On the day I was born, He breathed life into me. God is not some distant deity. Rather, He is a relational God who interacts with His creation giving life and movement. The One who created the stars in the farthest galaxies and the creatures in the depths of the oceans cares about me and gives me life, breath, and movement.