The One on Being the Salt

Salt: Matthew 5:13 says we are the salt of the earth - salt is used to preserve things and prevent rotting. We are that salt for the earth. We are supposed to bring preservation to the rotting world around us. The hope, life, and restoration of Jesus. Salt is completely useless if it isn’t used or used inappropriately. Putting a jar of salt on top of a steak while it’s still in the jar does nothing. You have to sprinkle the salt out. People want real and true experiences with God, not your opinions. God wants you set apart with Him bringing His light into this world of the in between. Feelings are not truth. The truth is in the Word, not in our emotions. Feelings can’t always be trusted. God and His word can be trusted and that’s why we need to be spending intentional time with God and His Word daily. We need to be ready. We need to hold on tight to God and show the world His light and pour out His salt around you wherever you are. The world needs to see the love of God more than ever. We are set apart to do just that.

Sometimes things may not go so great in our lives. We may even be struggling so bad at times we might find we are unable to cry out to God. The great thing is that’s when the community of people God put you with will step up and will cry out to God for you. We are a community of people who need to rally around each other to give the support and strength needed to get through the storms. Let your people in and let them row for you through the waves. It’s ok to not be ok sometimes. That’s when God reminds me to let the people who placed in my life bring the salt to the table.

Luke 5:17 -20 tells us the story of a paralyzed man who was carried on a sleeping mat to Jesus. I don’t know if the paralyzed man even wanted to go - it doesn’t tell us that - just that his friends carried him to Jesus. I picture him in a place of having given up in life but his friends advocating on his behalf. (We don’t know for sure the details - this is just the picture I see) His friends had so much faith in Jesus being able to heal this man, they picked him up and brought him to Jesus. They were so determined and had such a high faith in what Jesus could do for their friend, that when they saw the crowds were too big to get through with the sleeping mat in hand, they carried the mat up to the roof, dug out a hole in the rooftop and lowered him down to Jesus. Jesus saw the faith of this man’s friends and completely healed the paralytic man. I don’t know about you, but those are the kind of friends I want surrounding me through life in this garden of in-between. This is the type of friend I hope I am and continue to be for the friends God has placed around me as well. I want to be the salt needed for my friends whenever they need it. I want to be open to receive their salt when I need it rather than being so stubborn and prideful I think I can handle the boat on my own. I need to be reminded to trust God with all my heart at times and I hope I do a good job of reminding my friends of that as well when needed.

God is good at being God. We need to Trust him and depend on him throughout our lives and even hour by hour.

Trusting God with everything in me is easy for me until God asks me to do something that makes me uncomfortable or pushes me out of my comfort zones. Interestingly enough, I promised God I’d give him nothing but “Yes”s to anything He asks of me for the rest of my life here on earth. When God asks me to do things I’m not sure I can do, I say yes, but then I spend a good deal of time questioning God with things like - “are you sure you got the right person for this God?” “Are you sure I can even do this God?” I can’t tell you how many times over the last year as God keeps asking me to do different things and I keep saying - yes - that I stop and say “Ok, but you know as well as I do that I have no idea how to do this?” God just keeps giving me the confirmation my weak, insecure soul needs and I keep pressing on in Him. It’s really all I can do. I lean on Him through all things every day. As he keeps pushing me out of my comfort zones, I lean even more on Him - he’s so clever that way.

God’s will will be done. Regardless of what we see right now in our in-between gardens, God’s got us. We can trust him. He is a good God and takes care of his heirs. He has the bigger picture for our lives and knows things we cannot yet see or imagine. Trust Him, even when it feels weird - just keep trusting God. Keep pouring the salt out to your friends, neighbors, and community. Even when we don’t know what we’re doing and it feels weird. God knows what He’s doing and He is good - so so good.