Life is a tricky journey. It’s a roller coaster ride that we all wish would be a fun, blessed and easy one. But life isn’t always easy. We have many highs that feel amazing with joyous celebrations and blessings, and the lows are stomach churning and hard. We sometimes get sick with how fast those highs and lows can change. It’s in our nature to search for things that we can rely on and that give us that 100% guarantee. But, nothing in life is guaranteed 100%. We want the highs to last for as long possible. Whether it’s relationships, material possessions, jobs, income, etc., we want the good things to last forever.
We apply this to material things as well. When looking for new appliances, I always do my research. I compare the pros and cons of each item, check their warrantees, and look into the company’s reputation for fixing or replacing those items it they should break down. I also make sure that the brand of item I am getting has a reputation for lasting and working better than the other brands. I want to know that the large amount of money I am about to shell out for this item is going to be well worth it. I wouldn’t buy something if I knew it was going to be a lemon. Just like you wouldn’t purchase a car knowing it was through multiple accidents and wont start- you test drive it and check it out first.
When my husband and I purchased our first home we had to make sure that we had the house checked out thoroughly. We actually looked at over 30 houses in a very short span of time as we only had a few days to look at and purchase a home. We had to pick the house that needed the least amount of work, was “move-in ready”, and fit the needs of our family for safety and space. We walked throughout each of the homes ourselves to see what we liked and disliked, made a list of items or projects that would need to be completed, and considered all the pros and cons each dwelling had to offer. To be completely sure we were getting a place that didn’t have a ton of issues, we hired a home inspector. He could see things that we were not trained to look for that
needed fixing to prevent surprises after we had moved in. Of course, there were things that needed to be fixed and we worked with the seller to have those few items corrected before we closed on the house and began living in it. However, things don’t always go as planned.
Life likes to throw curve balls and while we were the top of the roller coaster with joy and elation at purchasing our first home, we quickly nose dived to the bottom. Our third day after moving in, I walked into our downstairs half bath to find water everywhere. Now, no one had used this bathroom yet. The toilet had not been used and flushed and no one had washed their hands in this sink yet. Upon inspection, the toilet broke. Not know what we were doing and wanting to make sure it was just the toilet that needed to be replaced, we called in a plumber. $150 later, we found out that it was indeed the toilet that broke and all was well with the other plumbing. He quoted us $500 to replace the toilet. Now, we didn’t expect to have to pay so much for a plumber to just tell us that the toilet was the issue and now we were being told that in order for him to replace said toilet, he wanted half of a thousand dollars. I don’t know about you but I am the type of person who would rather save a buck and do it myself than pay someone gobs of money to do something that should be rather easy to do. So, to you tube we went. We watched several videos, went to Home Depot, purchased a new toilet and all the parts needed, and replaced the toilet ourselves.
Now, we were climbing back to the top or our roller coaster ride because we did something on our own that we had never done before. We were pretty proud of ourselves. To some replacing a toilet may not be a big thing, but to us it was huge. First time home owners and we had a crash course on replacing something within our home. There were many other problems that arose and we had to learn about as well but, again, nothing is guaranteed. We weren’t guaranteed that our home wouldn’t have problems. We even purchased a home warranty to help with problems that arise. Although, this home warranty was a waste of money to us as they didn’t help cover any of the problems that we encountered, it was nice to have for our peace of mind.
Now, where am I going with this? I say all that to say this- there is no guarantees in life. No warranties you can purchase or insurance you can get that will assure you that when bad things come, your covered.
Except through Jesus. Jesus is the only guarantee in life we need. He created you, set your life up and He knows your future. He said in His Word that he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:8 –“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” He is a relationship that will never fail. His strength endures us and brings us through those low points. He protects us and guides us in the way we need to go. When you are experiencing hard times, He is there. Jeremiah 33:3- “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish”. You may not always feel him. You may think you are praying or talking to the wind, but I assure you He is always listening. He walks with you and many times he is carrying you. He fights battles for you that you have no clue are going on around you.
Jeremiah 1:19-“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you”. Isaiah 41:10-“So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Why does he do all this? Why fight for, listen to and create a mere human who has no power? He does this because He loves you. He loves you with a love that is far beyond our comprehension. He is our guarantee in life. While we can’t guarantee that the appliance, we just bought won’t break a year after purchasing it, or that the car you just took out a loan for wasn’t in an accident; we can be guaranteed that God is always with us. We don’t have to take out a warrantee on his love like we do on our homes or appliances to ensure that if something goes wrong, we are covered. He already did that for us. He used His own blood to cover us. He bought and paid for our souls with his blood on a terrible cross. He was beaten and bruised for our inequities. He paid a price for our sins that we could never pay and in all honesty, we could never repay him for what he did. All he asks in return is your love and giving of your life to serve him. He in turn will bless you, comfort you, strengthen you, guide you, protect you and give you power through his son Jesus who will dwell on the inside of you when you receive him. It’s a gift he is giving you that no one on this earth could ever replicate, promise or take away. Romans 6:23- “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD”.
When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He will be with you always. His love is a 100% guarantee. Even when you do wrong, he won’t leave you. He doesn’t shame you or hold against you your sins. Once you have repented and accepted him, you are covered. Your sins are washed away and you will be renewed and redeemed. Romans :23-24- “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet, God in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.”
He has redeemed us with his blood and it’s a gift of eternal life that he wants to give each and every person. He is our heavenly father and just as we as parents love our children no matter what, He loves us far beyond what we could imagine. He corrects us when we do wrong, he is our conscience, he is our light in the darkness and He is forever our deliverer. I implore you today to just talk to him. When life’s roller coaster gets too stomach churning with all the quick ups and downs, his love is there for us to lean into. Christ is life’s only positive guarantee. The only other guarantee life can offer is death. But death without Christ is a horrible thing. I would rather live my life with Christ and die knowing that when this body breaks down and goes back to the earth, I will wake up in heaven with a new body and live forever with my creator, my savior, my love. Romans 8:18- “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the lord makes his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the lord turns his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26