"That's Just The Way I Am"

Oh my. You'll never hear me say the words, "That's just the way I am." Yet I used to say them all the time, was even a little proud of them.

God would come along and say (through the Bible, people, books, songs, Life situations and my heart), "I can free you from that depression, you know."

And I would reply, "Oh, that's just the way I am."

Other times He'd say, "If you'll listen to Me, I can free you from the way you tend to nag Tom and worry about Naomi."

I'd reply, "But that's the way I've always been. You can't change that, can you?"

He'd try over and over. "I can help you not complain so much or be offended at church people or believe Life must always go your way."

Yeah, again, "But Lord, that's just the way I am."

But now, uh, no. I'd almost rather die than say those words.

It took me 30 years (I am so slow!) to discover that "That's just the way I am," is like smacking a helping hand--

-- it's like slamming a door, not believing in miracles or truth.

-- labeling myself as unchangeable, pressing my fingers, hard, against God's mouth. Hushing Him.

-- telling Him, "You can't help me!"

-- and giving-up and going back home to darkness.

It's like burning this Bible promise, "He whom the Son has set free is free, indeed."

Free indeed. The inside, outside, upside-down kind of freedom.

Free indeed. It exists. It's real.!

And for me, it began when I stopped saying and stopped believing, "That's just the way I am." Never again will I close the door to my freedom that way.



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"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" ... II Corinthians 5:17


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