Have You Ever Felt Unhinged?

Have you ever just felt a little unhinged?

It's okay. If you can't admit it publicly, you can probably admit that you've seen it in others.

That overly negative complaining Facebook post and all of the angry comments egging it on and encouraging the author to bask in that rage. That angry tweet-storm of name-calling and threats. That train-wreck public meltdown of someone in a store, in the parking lot, on the sidewalk, or in your house.

You stare. You judge. You thank God you are better than that person. You talk about them behind their back.

But if you are honest--really honest--you will admit that you were that person a time or two.

And you aren't necessarily a bad person for it. You would hate for anyone to see you like that, and you certainly wouldn't want anyone judging your worth based on your actions that day.

Maybe you stubbed a toe. Perhaps you couldn't find your keys. Maybe the kids were just not cooperating today, or the boss was overly demanding, or the car broke down, or the basement flooded. Maybe it was something more.

Something that happened to you overtook you. And you weren't prepared for what came out of you. You came unhinged.

When we are unhinged, we lose control. We lose focus. We lose what matters most.

So often when we talk about this concept, we think of an all or nothing connection. We're either rolling around in a pool of God's grace or crawling on the hot sands of the spiritual desert devoid of His presence.

We often think of it in those polar extremes. We don't think of the day to day struggle to remain in Him. And maybe you aren't a serial killer, but maybe you snapped at someone when you shouldn't have. Maybe you gave in to road rage. Maybe you believed a lie about yourself and fell into despair.

Being unhinged can take many forms.

Jesus referred to our dependency on God as that of a branch in a vine in the famous passage from John 15:4-6:

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." 

So often we analyze that passage specifically about the relationship of our faith and our works as believers. If we aren't connected to God, our actions will not match our faith. And that's a very central concept to this passage, but it's bigger than that.

When a branch is disconnected from the vine, it's biggest problem isn't its failure to make fruit, it's that it is dead.

Sure, it might not appear that way right away, but the longer that separation goes on, the more the symptoms of death will be evident.

Our IDENTITY, our PURPOSE, and our WORLDVIEW are rooted in the vine of Christ. When we sever that connection, we will die and not just in an overly symbolic way. We will be devoid of life. Not just in a "serving the poor" kinda life. A "Living every day without losing our minds" kinda life.

I began thinking about this while listening to a new Casting Crowns song called "God of All My Days" in which a lyric just hit me in the face:

In my worry, God you are my stillness. In my searching, God you are my answer. In my blindness, God you are my vision. In my bondage, God you are my freedom. In my weakness, God you are my power.

In the rush of life, we don't always allow God to be our stillness in our fear.  We don't always let Him be the answer.  We don't let Him guide us by the hand when we can't see.  We certainly don't allow Him to free us from our bondage, and we don't rely on His power.  We're not totally severed from the vine, we just sorta hopped off for a minute.

When the stress of life overtakes us, our first response is usually to punch it down like Rocky.  

It's acting before thinking.

It's doing before understanding.

God is a God of relationship.  And as beings created in His image, we are as well.  There is a tension in that understanding that binds us together.  But sometimes the rubber band breaks.

Our culture's obsession with social media and hiding behind the superficiality of technology has caused us to lose touch with connections.  Instead of building the genuine bonds of relationship, we tether the filtered facades of selfies.  

In the midst of stress and chaos, Jesus calls

"Remain in Me."   

"Remain."    

"Be still."  

"Abide."  

So, if you are unhinged, that's okay.  We all do from time to time.  It's just not okay to stay that way.  The world needs the fruit that God created you to grow.  Abide.  Remain in Him.