Sometimes... Romans 7:15-20; 24-25AMP

 As humans, we all have those “sometimes” moments.  I am reminded of what one of my favorite pastor’s, Tullian Tchividjian, says all the time, “If you’re human, you’re in recovery”.  And, that is one hundred percent the truth.  Because we struggle with “sometimes” moments, everyday we are blessed to wake up, we need to restart, renew and reconnect with our Creator.  I know you’re thinking, “What is a sometimes moment?”  To explain that, here are some lyrics from King’s X, Sometimes: 

Sometime, I want to give

Sometime, I wanna take, I want to take

Sometime, I want to run

Sometime, I wanna stay, I want to stay

Sometime, sometime

Sometime, sometime

Sometime, I want to love

Sometime, I wanna hate, I want to hate

And sometime, I want to build

Sometime, I wanna break, I want to break

Sometime, I want to live

And sometime, I wanna die, I want to die

And sometime, I want to believe

Sometime, I want to get high, I want to fly

Sometime, sometime, sometime

Maybe sometime, maybe all the time

Sometime, oh, and it's what I say

When I hear this song, it reminds me that not only am I human but I am in recovery.  It also reminds me that I can’t survive without Christ.  These lyrics describe each and every one of us at some point in our lives or at some point during our current day; or how we just felt five minutes ago.  Sometimes is a very real and raw song.  It is very down to earth and transparent.  As humans, this is what we feel daily but also what we struggle with daily.  Paul put it best though, in Romans 7:15-20: 

 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. 16 Now if I habitually do what I do not want to do, [that means] I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good (morally excellent). 17 So now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. 19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.

Paul is talking about “sometimes” moments.  He knows that he struggles with them and if he does, then he knows that we definitely do, too.  In this passage he explains in great detail what the struggle is and why we struggle, because he knows that we all will struggle.  Paul lets us know that we are not alone in this by being as transparent in this scripture as King’s X is in their song.  However, the only difference is that King’s X fails to share with us what the key is in winning and surviving the struggle;  Paul does not. Paul says in Romans 7:24-25a:

Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]? 25 Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Who will rescue us from “sometimes” moments?! God will.  He has delivered us.  Trust in Him and lean not on your own understanding (Prov. 3:5).  He came to save us, not to condemn us (John 3:17).  Through Him we can do and survive all things (Phil. 4:13).  He will give us rest (Ps. 46:10) and carry us and all of our burdens (Matt. 11:28-30).  No more struggling.  Just receive, refresh, restart and renew.  God is here for all of our “sometimes” moments.