Going Deep- Part 2- Clarity

            

Part 2- Clarity

If you have or had children- chances are you, at one point, made the attempt to make goldfish your child’s pet. You get them because you believe that it will be easier than dog or cat or a bearded dragon. For most of us, it never works out- We probably flush more fish than we feed. Personally- we are on first name basis with the pet shop owner just down the street from the house. Maybe some of you have gotten the fish tank down- and if you have- chances are that you have been bombarded with questions from everyone else like me clueless about it. Through the last few years and dozens of fish later I can tell you that the toughest thing about managing a fish tank is the clarity.  It can be cloudy. It gets gunky. Algae build up, whitish hairs gather on rocks and of course there is the poop. Any number of things affecting the quality of the water and the life of fish themselves.

                Life is much the same, just like the fish tank.  Our lives can become cluttered, dirty, gunked up or overcrowded. And just like the fish tank, we think up all these things to help it. Whether its self-help, pills, cleansers or attempts to dump everything out and start over, we treat our lives like the fish tank. And in this metaphor, we are the fish. So think about how they usually turn out.

                Last time I challenged everyone to “go deep” with an area of their lives. Whether it was a person, a thing or a ministry, the challenge was to take it the one person or thing on your heart and run with it. How do we do that when we are having difficulties managing our own tanks? The answer is the filter. The best way we can manage the clarity in our tanks by having the best filter possible. For us Christians- this filter is Jesus Christ, his word and the church (the Christian community). By doing this, we can approach life with the power to make change, the love to overflow to others, and the spiritual clarity we need to understand the direction God wants us to go. This is accomplished by reading his word. This is accomplished by praying and meaning it. This is accomplished by joining small groups, where you can build strong relationships with other people who will help you and encourage you. Who will even hold you accountable when you need it. Getting and maintaining clarity in your spiritual life is essential. Galatians 5:22-23 says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. If we want a life full of this- we need to update or replace our filter with one that’s direction comes from God.