Wasn’t Always

I’ve never met a happily married person who’s always been happily married. I’ve never met an adult who wasn’t once a child. I’ve never known a Christian who hasn’t been without Christ.

When Jesus said He came to call the sick, not the healthy, His point was this. None of us has always been righteous. All of us qualify for salvation only in the sense that we each need saving.

Us Christians can easily forget that we weren’t always redeemed. We weren’t always heirs. We haven’t always had hope.

At the same time, sometimes, we also forget what it means that we ARE redeemed.

Somewhere between saved and being sanctified, we get shaken by our faithful faithlessness. 

What a gift, also free, that we can rest on the truth that when our faith fails us, God doesn’t.

“But He remains faithful- for He cannot deny Himself.” -2 Timothy 2:13

This is the blessed assurance the hymn speaks of, the character of God every tribute is grounded in. This is what is unchanging in our ever-changing lives.

What do we know to be always true? Only Christ.

It helps to remember that regardless of what wasn’t always, despite the constant change of life, we know the I AM, who was, and is, and is to come.

Remember

I’ve been the person without Christ, and you have too. I was 20, you might have been 4. But there was a time, and there is no shame in proclaiming it.

Your story is His story. Your story is a testimony to the One anchor keeping your story from being tossed about recklessly. He’s penning it in, recording forever in place your days.

Do you remember?

Before Christ, you may well have known all about the anchors we can choose in life. You may have been grasping tightly to your anchor’s tether, tying and retying it in place.

You may have known moralism, you may have trusted in pleasing others. Performance might have steered your ship through the chaos of insecurity and opened your masts when waves of doubt mounted. You may have found your purpose in feeling spiritual or felt the sea calm with every mystical experience. The glint of light on the water may have stilled your heart as the love of another person gave you a new, clearer direction.

But none of these anchors is settled down deep or unmoving. None of these tethers is the rock on which your story rests and by which your ship remains secure in the midst of the inevitable end of the perilous sea.

Do you see?

Only Christ. Only Christ made the change, once and for all. Only He can settle the matter as earthly matters break free of the weightless anchors and loose tethers that leave you stranded yet again.

Do you remember your security? 

Cling to Him when the waves swell and life doesn’t cooperate. Hold fast to Him when you’re reaching the end of your rope and don’t believe the anchor will hold: if your anchor is Christ, He will.

Can you not remember?

There is no shame to be found in saying that even if you’ve done the “Christian thing” perhaps you haven’t been saved yet. The matter can be settled today.

Take up for yourself the only anchor built to ground you in eternity even as you weather the seas of this life.

I know because I’ve been a Christian tossed about, finding at the end of my rope only hope that couldn’t hold, waves the size of my worst fears, and my masts in desperate need of replacing again. I’ve been there too.

Because like every Christian, I wasn’t always saved.

I wasn’t always held in place by Him. Now I am. And I will be for eternity.

I remember because I laid down my other hopes and put my trust in Christ alone. Because I asked Him to forgive my attempts at facing His sea as if it was mine to conquer. Then I asked Him to be my anchor, my Savior, my unchanging, unshaking place to be when everything around gives way.

And it does. And He is.

This is the best news. But we didn’t always see it that way. That means there’s hope- even for the people we love who seem like they’ll always be lost in the waves. Even for you.

This post may also be shared on: #MomentsofHope, #DreamTogetherLinkup, #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup,  #TeaAndWord, #TellHisStory, #RechargeWednesday, #Thought-Provoking Thursday, #Heart Encouragement, #LiveFreeThursday, #DanceWithJesus, #LLMLinkup, Faith-Filled Friday, Sitting Among Friends, Fresh Market Friday, and #SoulSurvivalLinkup.