The Center of Your Life

Last Sunday, we had a guest speaker at the church I attend who was speaking on behalf of Men For Christ. In one of the handouts he gave us was the following:

Center of the Bible

What is the shortest chapter in the Bible? Psalm 117. What is the longest chapter in the Bible? Psalm 119. Which chapter is in the center of the Bible? Psalm 118. There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118. There are 594 chapters after Psalm 118. Add these numbers and you get 1188. What is the center verse in the Bible? Psalm 118:8. The next time someone says they would like to find God's perfect will for their lives and that they want to be in the center of His will, just send them to the center of His Word!

"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."

Now, isn't that odd how this worked out (or was God in the center of it?).

Isn't that remarkable, that the center verse of the entire Bible should be that we trust in God. That pretty much sums up everything, doesn't it? When we trust in God, and put our faith in Him, everything is better. At least that's how it is for me.

Point in case: I've recently been trying to resist the temptation to masturbate. I've always felt it was wrong of me to masturbate. Mostly because that particular activity, for me, usually involves rather lustful thinking. But also because I've resorted to masturbation as a means of relieving stress, anger, frustrations, depression, loneliness, or just about any other negative feeling I've ever had. I've done that as a means to escape, to flee into a world of fantasies where all there is is me feeling loved and accepted by other men. Problem is, I know that's just a counterfeit. It isn't real. And in having those thoughts, I usually end up feeling guilty and ashamed, because I know I shouldn't think of other men like that. But also, because in having those thoughts, I tend to feel rather non-manly myself. I begin to think negatively about myself. So, I try to resist.

In the past, masturbation has been my drug. I did that as a means of feeling better. I relied on that for immediate gratification. I put my trust in it to feel better. But that trust was foolish. Any enjoyment from masturbation is short lived. That is, unless you give into it all the time. And if you do that, you're simply waisting your life away. I'll admit, I've waisted a lot of my life away to it. Rather than trusting in God as I should have, I turned to something of my own doing to help me feel better, and that never works. There's nothing lasting by that. I should have trusted in God to help me feel better.

Here lately, in trying to resist, I've tried to do just that, to turn to God and to trust in Him above all else. I'd rather God be my drug any day as opposed to something I know won't ever truly satisfy me. Doing that, I feel better so much longer. I feel closer to God, I feel better about myself, and... well... it's all better. But it's the same with everything else. When God is the center of our lives, everything is better. When other things, or other people, are the center of our lives, nothing is as good. That's because all those other things can let you down. They never fulfill what they promise. But with God... God always delivers. He loves us and cares for us, and when we turn to Him and put our trust in Him, he helps us like nothing else can.

So, is God the center of your life, or are you just waisting time?