Quick Sand

With Halloween right around the corner it seems appropriate to ask this question. What scares you most? For me it's not Freddie Krugger or Jason, or Micheal Myers (either of them). What scares me most is quicksand. There's this B-movie, "The Replacements," where Gene Hackman plays a foot ball coach to a team of replacements because the regular overly paid NFL players went on strike. After one game Gene Hackman asks the team what they're most afraid of. Some of the players said spiders and snakes, but it was Keanu Reeves character who said quicksand. The explanation was sometimes you make one mistake, and then no matter how hard you fight; no matter how much harder you pedal; you just cannot get out on your own. In churches, quicksand is the road to burn out for pastors. What I have been taught in school is to remember it is God who works things for His will - not me. I cannot save anyone's soul. What they teach us at Asbury Theological Seminary is the importance of our relationship with Christ. But here's the rub. There's no formula for a relationship with God. If I do this, and that every day God will bless me. If relationships don't work that way for your wife or your girlfriend it certainly isn't going to work with God. God isn't some power outlet I need to plug into to be successful. It's frustrating. After all, how do you walk with God if you don't know how to connect? The answer is prayer. 1Thessalonians 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing," which tells me time with God cannot and should not be a pit stop on Sunday morning. What constant connection with God looks like will probably be different for you than for me. Philippians 2:12 tells us to, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." To me that means my relationship with God will be different from yours just as my relationship with my wife is different from your relationship with your significant other. I think the key is to actively try to be in that relationship with God in every breath.