Is The Ghetto As Good As It Gets?

So many people are weighted down with distressing circumstances. Everywhere we look, it seems nearly overwhelming. How can we help anyone else when our own problems are so difficult? While recently discussing with a friend whether our life as we know it is “as good as it gets,” I was reminded of a quote from C.S.Lewis: 

“…we sit on the ground in a ghetto and make mud pies assuming this is as good as it gets while God is trying to call us to stand up and come with Him to a luxury resort on the seashore.” ~C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

Are there areas of your life where you feel you are sitting on the ground in a ghetto, making mud pies and assuming this is as good as it gets? Is worry, fear, anxiety, distraction, unforgiveness, sorrow, desire, pride, the hope for something good to happen, the thought of missing out on joy, and feeling stuck where you don’t want to be—all of which are—making you question the point of your life? 

Well, you’re not alone—this is the human struggle! 

But Jesus has promised us a much better life! He invites us to the seashore. He invites us to live there NOW and be there for ETERNITY. After we receive His precious gift of salvation, He invites us to literally experience HIS peace, joy, love, strength, and wisdom amidst ANY circumstances! Jesus entreats us:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ‭‭‬ ‭

Matthew 11:28-30

To be yoked to Jesus means we are literally attached to Him. We go where He leads, we let Him carry our stuff, we do what He commands, we listen, we look to Him for everything. This is a state of mind—in fact, it’s developing the mind of Christ within ourselves and pulling our unbelief,  unhealthy hopes, and unruly emotions into line with His way of thinking, talking, and living. In return, He teaches us to walk in the beautiful righteousness of His ways. He reveals the masterpiece He created within us. We experience supernatural faith, enduring love, wisdom, strength, spiritual prosperity, and all the goodness God has planned for us. 

We trade the darkness of the ghetto for the splendors of the seashore!

It doesn’t mean we don’t have problems. We certainly do! But we experience them in a much different environment. Then, when the thugs—our enemies from the ghetto— come to try and drag us back to the darkness, in the light of the seaside, they are clearly recognizable. In the beauty and light of the seashore, they stand in sharp contrast to everything good we are experiencing. Even if they are successful in tricking us to go back to the ghetto, we are acutely aware of the exceptional difference in everything around us and the darkness creeping back into our heart and—we desperately want to get back to the sunshine and sand.

This, my friend, can be our experience in walking with Jesus. He is the source of all the goodness we enjoy. When we enjoy His goodness in HIS way, in HIS presence, we have a deep and exciting understanding of the difference between living by the seashore and living in the ghetto. Sure, there are still obstacles and difficult circumstances we encounter by the seashore. But in the storms, tsunamis, and various challenges—there is an extreme difference—God’s presence guiding us or carrying us through. Thus, we experience HIS peace that passes all understanding. 

Do you want to live by the seashore in Almighty God‘s powerful care? 

If so, you must be born again. Fully surrender to Him for salvation. Then, for every day of the rest of your life, make Him the Lord of your life. Put Him in charge—He does your life so much better than you do! Passionately pursue your relationship with God. Set aside time, read His Word, talk to Him, live in obedience to His Word, join with a body of believers to strengthen your relationship with Him, and like a newborn baby, you will grow in your relationship and love for Him. He will build security, confidence, freedom and joy that does NOT exist outside the strong sense of His presence.

God is the ONLY one who can do this for us.

We can’t enjoy the purity of the seashore with God, if we’re dabbling in sin. Sin separates us from a strong sense of the presence of God and keeps us in the ghetto. Salvation covers our soul and spirit with the righteousness of Christ, and in HIM we possess the power to subdue our body into living a holy life. We live with a strong sense of God’s presence. Heart-led obedience to His Word brings us a strong sense of the beauty and peace of His presence:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” ‭‭

Psalms 139:23-24

“[D]o you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV

When we are born again, God builds us a home by the seashore…so we don’t ever have to go back to the ghetto!

We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.

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