I was struck by this thought –
So, shouldn’t I depend on him for everything else, even sexuality?
It can be hard to trust, but I’m not sure we have a choice! None of us can do anything to change the fact of our dying. We are like Christian, in Pilgrim’s Progress, who must cross the dark river. We enter those waters with eyes fixed ahead, totally dependent on God.
Nevertheless, as Paul says, we look forward to being “absent from the body and present with the Lord”.1 I’m sure that when it comes time for me to die, it will be a moment of trembling. But I want faith to outpace fear.
If I plan to trust God so completely at the end of my life (recognizing how dependent I am on him) shouldn’t I trust him the same way now?
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.2
This reminds me of a young man that I was speaking to recently. He is a pedophile, but also hopes to be married to a woman someday. It all seems so difficult to him – how will he find the right person, will she accept him, and how long must he wait?
My answer to him was that God is marvelous at orchestrating impossible situations. Our perspective is limited by the situation we see in front of us, but God’s is not. He sees our lives from a bird’s-eye-view. Therefore, he knows how to bless us.
God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished.3
Another young man shared with me how depressed he is. His emotions are still reeling from the fact he must live with his attraction toward children, but can never allow it to come to anything. He explains that it feels like part of him is dying.4
I reminded him that God won’t snuff out a flicking candle.5 Instead, he shields us and trims us until we can burn brightly. What you are feeling now is not how you will always feel. He can make a way for you to have love and intimacy in this life, and it won’t mean hurting a child.
Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning.6
Do you feel utterly helpless when it comes to the struggles of life, perhaps with sexuality?
Don’t fear! In truth, we are as much dependent on God now as when we breathe our final breath.
Even Jesus said while on the cross, “Father, in to your hands I commit my spirit.”7
And that is how it should be. God wants us to trust him with the faith of a little child.8 He doesn’t expect you to have everything under control. In fact, he wants you to “cast your cares on him, for he cares for you”.9
As Jesus hung his head and breathed his last, “death was swallowed up in victory”.10 He overcame the grave.
We do not need to be afraid of dying any longer, and we do not need to be overwhelm by this challenge with sexuality. Jesus won the victory then, and he will do the same in our lives.
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.11
We have Jesus inside of us, and that means a new life.12 He causes “light to shine out of darkness” and he gives us “beauty for ashes”.13
Let’s depend on him for everything from death to sexuality. He says, “be still, and know that I am God.”14