© Jennifer Slattery, JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud, printed with permission

Read Part 1 here
Read Part 2 here
Read Part 3 here

Our real life, the life which we were created for, the life which will bring us the greatest joy and fulfillment, is hidden in Christ. We discover this life by throwing off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and running with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1).

Our real life is found not in promotions or bank accounts, but instead, in Christ; and we are made complete in Him. Although I know this with my head, there have been few times my heart truly grasped this truth. Both times the realization came during times of intense struggle.

The first was when our family experienced a prolonged period of unemployment. I was a stay-home, homeschooling housewife who had everything planned out. Although I professed Christ as Lord, I often relied on my efforts to hold myself and my family together. So long as we lived, spent, and saved in a certain way, everything would be fine. To rephrase, as long as we had Jesus…“and” my plan, everything would be fine.

When we lost the ‘and’, my world felt out of control. Having spent a brief period on the streets as a teenager, I quickly spiraled into panic and depression. Irrational fears surfaced. Instead of us being unemployed, I envisioned us but a few bills away from homelessness. For months, I cried out to God, asking him to change our situation, to free us from our pain.

Instead, he drew me closer to him. In the middle of my heart-broken prayer, he asked me something that stilled my tears and stole my breath: “Will you still love Me now? If I never change your situation, even if things grow worse, will you still love Me? Will you still live for Me, even if I strip everything away?”

A soul-deep silence followed. God was asking me to choose between self-reliance and full surrender. Using every ounce of strength I had, I forced out a painful, “Yes.” It was as if a veil had been removed and clarity set in. In that moment I realized, regardless of what happened, we would be okay because we had Christ. We’d have Christ whether we lived in a three-story, 3,000 square foot house or under a freeway overpass. It was the most freeing moment, other than conversion, I’ve had in my Christian walk.

“When we build our lives on things other than Christ, everything is built on the temporary,” Roger Graber, Lifegroup and Impact Pastor of Reality Church says. “Temporary things quit working. They disappoint us and fail to satisfy the deepest part of our being.”

Only Christ can satisfy us to our core, can bring purpose out of even the most frustrating situations, and can lift us from our petty lives to freedom and adventure. Christ died so we might have life and have it to the full. Through his death and resurrection, he’s already granted us full access to a glorious, joyous, victorious life. This extraordinary, abundant life he promised is not dependent on our job, our circumstances, or our pocketbook. Rather, it is dependent upon our surrender.

Thank you to Jennifer Slattery for sharing her writing. Her blog is found at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud, and her other work has appeared in numerous publications and compilation projects.