Le passager divin

Qui donc est celui-ci, car il commande même aux vents et à l’eau, et ils lui obéissent ? Luc 8. 25
 

Le voyez-vous, chassé sur l’onde,
Ce frêle esquif jouet des flots ?
Le vent mugit, la mer l’inonde,
L’effroi saisit les matelots.
Que devenir dans la tourmente
Qui se prolonge en grandissant,
Emportant la barque impuissante
Au gré de la vague et du vent ?

Le Maître dort pendant l’orage.
Ne va-t-il pas les protéger ?
Vont-ils sombrer dans le naufrage
Avec le divin passager ?
Entends nos cris dans la détresse !
Voudrais-tu nous laisser périr ?
Réveille-toi, le péril presse,
Hâte-toi de nous secourir.

Jésus s’éveille et sa puissance
D’un mot dissipe leur effroi.
À l’ouragan il dit : Silence !
À la tourmente : Calme-toi !
Aussitôt tombe la tempête,
Tout s’apaise ; alors le Seigneur
Demande aux siens baissant la tête :
Pourquoi donc avez-vous eu peur ?

“Il arrête la tempête, la changeant en calme, les flots se taisent, et ils se réjouissent… et il les conduit au port qu’ils désiraient” (Psaume 107. 29, 30).

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Perfect Like Christ

Be perfect . . . as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

Loving God, forgive me for so often mistaking my own self-improvement ambitions for growing in You! Help me to surrender control and embrace a life of freedom with You.

Today's Scripture & Insight:

“Perfectionism is one of the scariest words I know,” Kathleen Norris writes, thoughtfully contrasting modern-day perfectionism with the “perfection” described in the book of Matthew. Modern-day perfectionism she describes as “a serious psychological affliction that makes people too timid to take necessary risks.” But the word translated “perfect” in Matthew actually means mature, complete, or whole. Norris concludes, “To be perfect . . . is to make room for growth [and become] mature enough to give ourselves to others.”

Understanding perfection this way helps make sense of the profound story told in Matthew 19, where a man asked Jesus what good he could do to “get eternal life” (v. 16). Jesus responded, “Keep the commandments” (v. 17). The man thought he’d obeyed all of them, yet he knew something was missing. “What do I still lack?” (v. 20) he asked.

That’s when Jesus identified the man’s wealth as the vise-grip stifling his heart. He said that if he wanted “to be perfect”—whole, willing to give and receive from others in God’s kingdom—then he must be willing to let go of what was closing off his heart from others (v. 21).

Each of us has our own version of perfection—possessions or habits we cling to as a futile attempt to be in control. Today, hear Jesus’ gentle invitation to surrender—and find freedom in the wholeness that’s only possible in Him (v. 26).

By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

When have you mistaken personal goals for biblical “perfection”? How can surrendering control to God offer freedom from perfectionism?