Replacing the Center
For hundreds of years people believed that the earth was the center of the universe. When in reality, the earth is orbiting around the sun. The same faulty thinking presents itself in regards to the individual. It’s all too easy to slip into thinking that we are center of the world.
Our experience is the only one that we fully know because we’re the only ones living our individual lives, but with billions of individuals it’s easy to see that none of us are the center of existence. The center is found in the One who created us. Who spoke all this into motion. It’s we that have been made to serve and worship Him, not the other way around.
God is marked by the characteristics of omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence (all-powerful), and omnipresence (all-present). It’s only an individual this great that could sit in the seat of centrality. Stay with me a moment, there’s great news ahead.
When our gaze is constantly fixed on ourselves, we self-elevate to a place we have no business being. We think that we’re in ultimate control. We’re not, and this is very good news. We know the words of Jesus, and if we believe them to be true that He has come to give us abundant life (John 10:10), then we can trust that He is faithful to do so.
We also can trust that “He works all things for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). Here’s the problem with thinking we’re the center of existence, if we make one mistake then it’s over. What if you went left and should have gone right three years back? Or someone else hurts you so bad it feels like you can’t go on?
God is greater, bigger, and stronger than the mistakes you have made and the harms others have caused you. He is faithful to complete the work that He’s started in you (Philippians 1:6). If option A was in fact “better” than option B, and you chose option B a few turns back, God is faithful to create a new plan A for you that’s just as amazing in its own way.
That painful experience you went through that could have been avoided, He’s able to turn that into a character growing season. See, although God is the center, we often think it’s Him that orbits around us. God loves us too much to let us continue in this thinking. He will move us, sometimes gently and other times firmly, to a shifting of our understanding.
This is a lesson I’m right in the middle of. It requires a release of control. I do have a responsibility to make decisions and to think critically, but I’m not able to control the weather or the job market or why things happened the way they did.
There is a freedom that’s found when we step into the orbiting of God and place Him at the rightful center of our existence. Remaining fixed on Him, we then have the ability to let go of our perceived control, place it in the hands of the One who is able to wield control, and walk through life with a heart postured after trust and reverence for the Lord.
What’s the take-away here? You and I, we’re not in control. But there is Someone who is and His Name is Jesus. The sooner we recognize and place God in the central position of our worldview, the sooner we’ll be able to walk in true freedom and peace. Knowing that if God is for us, then who can be against us (Romans 8:31). And friend, He is so for you.
