JESUS: The One Who Settles Everything!

“Stop your giggling and settle down in there. Don’t make me have to come in there!” I’m sure my mom or my cousin’s mom said that numerous times to us. We didn’t see each other that often, and when we did, it was hard for the day to end. We pretended to be asleep when the door opened for a quick check, but the whispers under the covers continued once it clicked shut.

We settle down, settle scores, settle in for a long winter. When we’re young, the relatives keep asking, “When are you going to settle down, get married and start a family?”  That sounds so boring when we still have so many dreams to live.

We’re happy for something to settle our stomachs when we’ve eaten rich foods. I’m happy when they announce to the pool of potential jurors that the cases have been settled out of court and I can go home.

But the thought of a submarine or ship full of sailors or passengers settling to the bottom of the sea makes my heart ache.

I love to read the stories of the first settlers in our country, their daring and courage, their hardships and sorrows. I wonder if I could ever have had the mettle to endure such a life. I know I was happy just to settle into one place after moving five times in our first four years of marriage. That was enough pioneering for me.

I’m unsettled when other things aren’t settled… arguments, decisions, the next move in my life. The worst nights for me have been those times when problems aren’t resolved… when I can’t stop my mind from reliving divisive conversations. But in the morning, when “the dust settled” and I could see more clearly, those reconciliation moments lifted the sorrow that had settled on my heart.

I know it’s important to finally settle on something when endless options present themselves. On the other hand I hate to settle for something when I know I can do better, when I know there is something better out there. Why not go for the best?

That’s what I like about my God. He understands perfectly what it means to settle: to fix or resolve conclusively.  My Lord Jesus did just that when He said, “It’s finished!” He says to me, “I fixed that problem of sin and death once and for all!” He settled the score with Satan on the cross and when He walked from that tomb.

And when I’m seeking answers in His Word, He does even more. The sediment and scum of this earthly life settles out, and I can see more clearly His plan for me and for this world.

I want my Lord Jesus to settle in my heart. Oh, not like a cold that settles in my chest and drags my life down. I want Him to take up residence in me, inhabit me. I want to be a place for Him to stay.

Thank goodness I don’t have to first settle up accounts with Him… weighing my good against my bad… promising to clean up my act if He’ll just come live in me. That doesn’t matter. All I need to do is settle into the faith He’s given me… and into His warm embrace. He’s does the rest.

Now I could settle into contentment. It feels really good to be His child. But that’s not His plan. He continues to say, “GO! Don’t get complacent. Don’t feel there isn’t anything more to do. Don’t settle in… or for… or on!”

I pray I will always hear that Voice. The Voice that says, “Don’t settle down. I’m not through with you yet!”

Leaving my guilt at the cross,

Christine