Recently I’ve begun struggling through God’s promise, which states “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. For me, the question of what is truly for my good is not an easy question, and the answers that have revealed themselves to me have often been a tough pill to swallow. But let’s think on that metaphor for a moment- why do they call it a tough pill anyway?
When I think of medicine, what first comes to my mind is the yucky, cherry flavored stuff. I doubt there are many children in this world who have ever truly enjoyed the taste of cough syrup. But its purpose was to eventually help make you well again, wasn’t it? When you’re sick as a child, you’re also forced to take rest from your activities and give your body the opportunity to naturally heal itself and fight off the infection, as it was created.
In the same sense, adults often take pills. Sometimes vitamins, for daily health, and still sometimes for things like muscle aches, migraines, etc. Still, pills don’t become more enjoyable the older you become. Often as adults, we neglect good rest in exchange for more activities in our already busy schedule, or good health and nutrition for faster foods with more taste…and carbs. But the neglect will always catch up with us, and we’ll be right back to taking our pills.
That is the real pill to swallow here; that what we want isn’t always what’s best for us in the long run. And as cheesy as this risks sounding, we know there is only one Great Physician who knows exactly what’s best for his children.
What is asked us of in the present is not always what sounds the most appealing, but our Father in Heaven knows the true desires of our hearts, and he still seeks to honor that in His plans for us; plans that are ultimately so much better than our own, and will give credit to the only One worthy of receiving it.
I’ll admit, today I had an entirely different topic of meditation in mind to write, but I guess the Great Physician decided a different remedy would be better suited for me and for his children than my own.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Testimony
My favorite testimonies are those of the most drastic change. What do authors Josh McDowell and C.S. Lewis have in common? Both were atheists who essentially proved themselves wrong, and their works have since become some of the strongest arguments for apologetics.
Billy Graham is another contemporary example; he was once taken to the doctor by his parents out of concern that he was "not normal" and had "too much energy". Throughout adolescence he was filled with self-doubt, but once saved and called to ministry, he fell to his knees and submitted his life to the Lord. Ironically enough, the same young man once so concerned of not being a strong enough speaker later led countless to Christ through his conferences- his name now synonymous for the word "Crusade".
The apostle Paul had a dramatic 180-degree turnaround after Jesus literally stopped him in his tracks on the road to Damascus. No longer a law-abiding Pharisee out to extinguish followers of "The Way", he became the first to reach the Gentile world and the most ferocious fighter for the gospel the Mediterranean region had yet seen.
These are the stories who brag boldly on the redemption and transformation found when Christ's resurrection power invades human history. And what can we glean from these stories to apply to our lives today? Even post-conversion Paul was forced to daily nail his flesh to the cross and allow Christ to live through his life, flaws and all. We'll never know what his "thorn" was, but each of us has been given one, in proportion with how Christ will choose to allow it to be used for his gain to advance his kingdom in each of us. "...Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" -1 Corinthians 12:7-10.
God has great faith in his ability to let his light shine through in the lives of those who have lost and neglected faith in themselves. Not because of our strengths; our natural talents would only attempt to overshadow the raw power of Christ. Even after salvation, he has little interest in what we have to offer in comparison to the weaknesses in which he is best able to show off his greatness. It brings an entirely new understanding to the concept of self-confidence; take into account the words of St. Augustine- “In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it dazzled me.”
Billy Graham is another contemporary example; he was once taken to the doctor by his parents out of concern that he was "not normal" and had "too much energy". Throughout adolescence he was filled with self-doubt, but once saved and called to ministry, he fell to his knees and submitted his life to the Lord. Ironically enough, the same young man once so concerned of not being a strong enough speaker later led countless to Christ through his conferences- his name now synonymous for the word "Crusade".
The apostle Paul had a dramatic 180-degree turnaround after Jesus literally stopped him in his tracks on the road to Damascus. No longer a law-abiding Pharisee out to extinguish followers of "The Way", he became the first to reach the Gentile world and the most ferocious fighter for the gospel the Mediterranean region had yet seen.
These are the stories who brag boldly on the redemption and transformation found when Christ's resurrection power invades human history. And what can we glean from these stories to apply to our lives today? Even post-conversion Paul was forced to daily nail his flesh to the cross and allow Christ to live through his life, flaws and all. We'll never know what his "thorn" was, but each of us has been given one, in proportion with how Christ will choose to allow it to be used for his gain to advance his kingdom in each of us. "...Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" -1 Corinthians 12:7-10.
God has great faith in his ability to let his light shine through in the lives of those who have lost and neglected faith in themselves. Not because of our strengths; our natural talents would only attempt to overshadow the raw power of Christ. Even after salvation, he has little interest in what we have to offer in comparison to the weaknesses in which he is best able to show off his greatness. It brings an entirely new understanding to the concept of self-confidence; take into account the words of St. Augustine- “In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it dazzled me.”
Release
Forgive me for occupying a paragraph of my own writing space with that of another’s words, but I fear I would be depriving you of the heart of my most recent meditation if I did not present you with this piece of insight, by author Frederick Buechner:
"To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do- to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst- is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed." -Frederick Buechner
The question that has been pressing on my heart and mind this past month has been that of why we, as children of God, work so hard to protect ourselves rather than relinquishing that power over to our Heavenly Father? Can we not see the repercussions of taking this burden upon ourselves and that it only serves to harm us further? We work to create these fences, these illusions of our own self-protection, when the bravest thing we can do for ourselves is to let go, and let God.
Please understand that I am learning this first in my own life as I write this meditation, but I’m coming to believe one of the most courageous things a Christian can do is to cry out to the Lord and bring what was once hidden in the dark to the light through prayer; “The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.” –Proverbs 15:8
It is crucial within this verse to understand that the wicked are any of those not found in Christ, but if you are saved in Him, you ARE the upright! This identification as righteous men and women of God is not found in our attempts to reach some standard of perfection within our day-to-day actions; neither can this identity be lost by anything of our own doing. This grace requires no effort on our part, for it was already bought and freely given to us in Christ! It doesn’t matter what the wicked lay down if they have not ultimately given wholly of themselves. We are saved by a God that simply asks for all of who we are and that we continue to hand all else that comes our way to Him.
It is in seeking our own false sense of power that we hang onto our fears and wrestle with them alone, rather than lifting them up to the Lord in prayer. For what should we withhold from the One who collects our every tear?
Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged when the circumstances of life hit you harder than you would’ve expected, and don’t fall into the lie of believing yourself to be of weak nature. We are all victors in Christ; any difficult circumstances thrown your way, when you seek to honor the Lord in your everyday trials, should serve as a type of catharsis- a method of scrubbing out the mess inside and of releasing it to God so as not to allow past wounds to fester and scar us further. God seeks not that we stay the same, but that we move according to His truth and become transformed into one more like His Son.
So speak to Him and release to Him! Let your requests be known to God and ask Him to bring you the courage needed to reach out in Spirit in your time of need. Because it says in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
"To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do- to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst- is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed." -Frederick Buechner
The question that has been pressing on my heart and mind this past month has been that of why we, as children of God, work so hard to protect ourselves rather than relinquishing that power over to our Heavenly Father? Can we not see the repercussions of taking this burden upon ourselves and that it only serves to harm us further? We work to create these fences, these illusions of our own self-protection, when the bravest thing we can do for ourselves is to let go, and let God.
Please understand that I am learning this first in my own life as I write this meditation, but I’m coming to believe one of the most courageous things a Christian can do is to cry out to the Lord and bring what was once hidden in the dark to the light through prayer; “The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.” –Proverbs 15:8
It is crucial within this verse to understand that the wicked are any of those not found in Christ, but if you are saved in Him, you ARE the upright! This identification as righteous men and women of God is not found in our attempts to reach some standard of perfection within our day-to-day actions; neither can this identity be lost by anything of our own doing. This grace requires no effort on our part, for it was already bought and freely given to us in Christ! It doesn’t matter what the wicked lay down if they have not ultimately given wholly of themselves. We are saved by a God that simply asks for all of who we are and that we continue to hand all else that comes our way to Him.
It is in seeking our own false sense of power that we hang onto our fears and wrestle with them alone, rather than lifting them up to the Lord in prayer. For what should we withhold from the One who collects our every tear?
Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged when the circumstances of life hit you harder than you would’ve expected, and don’t fall into the lie of believing yourself to be of weak nature. We are all victors in Christ; any difficult circumstances thrown your way, when you seek to honor the Lord in your everyday trials, should serve as a type of catharsis- a method of scrubbing out the mess inside and of releasing it to God so as not to allow past wounds to fester and scar us further. God seeks not that we stay the same, but that we move according to His truth and become transformed into one more like His Son.
So speak to Him and release to Him! Let your requests be known to God and ask Him to bring you the courage needed to reach out in Spirit in your time of need. Because it says in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Rest
It was a typical restless night for me, something perhaps many of you have experienced before. Having attempted to sleep for hours, I was interrupted every few minutes by the thought of one more thing I had forgotten to do that day or one last thing I needed to write down for fear of forgetting it later. Up and down, up and down, in and out of bed I rose and fell. My heartbeat and breathing hadn’t calmed since I’d first laid down, and my mind was an endless maze of thoughts and fears. I felt trapped and was giving into the lie that I had to solve all that was within my power before I was allowed to rest….
And then I stopped. For a moment, the verses taped up on my wall next to my bed claimed my attention, and I knew the way out.
I began to recite my special memory verse, reserved just for fighting battles such as these, until I sensed myself physically and even mentally slowing down. Matthew 10:26-33, “So do not be afraid...for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
If any of you reading this struggle with racing thoughts or fear falling out of control, I encourage you to memorize this one. It assures me that all is known by our Heavenly Father, and nothing is out of his sight and all is within his power.
Another verse on my wall that grasped my attention was Psalm 46:10—
“He says, ‘Be still [cease striving], and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.’”
In the wee hours of that morning, amidst my swirling thoughts that began to settle like tossed confetti in the slowly enveloping silence, I was delivered by this realization—
“ I will never reach the standard of perfection for which I strive to attain, for it is by this same standard that Satan seeks to destroy me!”
You see, it was my unsettled heart and mind that prevented me from resting. Our rest will never lie in achieving some standard of perfection or temporary feeling of peace. True rest is found in the Lord and true peace can only come from knowing our unconditional and eternal identity according to Him and not according to any standards of our own, which so quickly shift and change.
In this ever moving, uncertain world, we have a God who calls us to His rest.
As Moses said to the Egyptians in Exodus 14:14, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
And then I stopped. For a moment, the verses taped up on my wall next to my bed claimed my attention, and I knew the way out.
I began to recite my special memory verse, reserved just for fighting battles such as these, until I sensed myself physically and even mentally slowing down. Matthew 10:26-33, “So do not be afraid...for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
If any of you reading this struggle with racing thoughts or fear falling out of control, I encourage you to memorize this one. It assures me that all is known by our Heavenly Father, and nothing is out of his sight and all is within his power.
Another verse on my wall that grasped my attention was Psalm 46:10—
“He says, ‘Be still [cease striving], and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.’”
In the wee hours of that morning, amidst my swirling thoughts that began to settle like tossed confetti in the slowly enveloping silence, I was delivered by this realization—
“ I will never reach the standard of perfection for which I strive to attain, for it is by this same standard that Satan seeks to destroy me!”
You see, it was my unsettled heart and mind that prevented me from resting. Our rest will never lie in achieving some standard of perfection or temporary feeling of peace. True rest is found in the Lord and true peace can only come from knowing our unconditional and eternal identity according to Him and not according to any standards of our own, which so quickly shift and change.
In this ever moving, uncertain world, we have a God who calls us to His rest.
As Moses said to the Egyptians in Exodus 14:14, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Sainthood
It hit us at Starbucks; not an aroma, any sentiment from a particular piece of interior design in the shop or image struck into our minds by a melody being played out over the speakers. It had nothing to do with our temporary location or present condition of our emotions, but the very fact of our identity and what it granted us;
Sainthood.
Skimming over the first two chapters in Ephesians, a very dear sister in Christ sat before me asking why we so rarely remember that each of us in Christ are saints. I wondered in response why this very fact didn’t appear to be enough to free so many Christians from living in bondage to sin when they are indeed free (John 8:36). Why aren’t we focused on our infallible identity that is literally placed in Christ so that it might cause us to live and act according to our true position rather than our temporary circumstances?
Or is it that this life is just too much, and the Christian life is too difficult? The thought of the “narrow road” becomes a crippling fear rather than a straight sprint for the freedom Christ gives.
Remember that I said our identity in Christ is infallible? Yet for so many the gift of grace is “not enough” to move us out of our comfort zone or to lift our burdens because this life is just too heavy. Didn’t Jesus promise us that his burden is light? (Matthew 11:30)
Think on this quote from the introduction to Bill Gillham’s book, Lifetime Guarentee; “The Christian life is not difficult to live. It's impossible to live…God never intended for you to live it… Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever successfully lived the Christian life, and His plan is to live it through you.”
How’s that for an “Aha” moment!
With caffeine and divine inspiration running through our veins, we turned back to our passage in Ephesians; I couldn’t help but to notice that the phrase in Christ occurs ten times in the first thirteen verses of Ephesians 1, along with in Him, through Jesus Christ, through His blood, alive with Christ, through the cross, and through faith in Him reoccurring through the first four chapters of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. Clearly he wanted us to understand something very crucial to our Christian walk and our very motive for living.
And then that word again, the saints. Who are the saints? See if you can figure it out;
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may be called to know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” –Ephesians 1:18 & 19
If you have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, sainthood is for you. It’s what he has to offer you, and it is of nothing of your own doing, but it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
I wish more dear brothers and sisters understood this in order that they may more efficiently and freely live the life Christ has offered them and walk that narrow road in full confidence of their identity, in Christ. After all, you can’t live to the fullest, and in the abundance that is stored for each of us, until you know who you are; a topic I hope and look forward to writing on more fully in coming essays.
Sainthood.
Skimming over the first two chapters in Ephesians, a very dear sister in Christ sat before me asking why we so rarely remember that each of us in Christ are saints. I wondered in response why this very fact didn’t appear to be enough to free so many Christians from living in bondage to sin when they are indeed free (John 8:36). Why aren’t we focused on our infallible identity that is literally placed in Christ so that it might cause us to live and act according to our true position rather than our temporary circumstances?
Or is it that this life is just too much, and the Christian life is too difficult? The thought of the “narrow road” becomes a crippling fear rather than a straight sprint for the freedom Christ gives.
Remember that I said our identity in Christ is infallible? Yet for so many the gift of grace is “not enough” to move us out of our comfort zone or to lift our burdens because this life is just too heavy. Didn’t Jesus promise us that his burden is light? (Matthew 11:30)
Think on this quote from the introduction to Bill Gillham’s book, Lifetime Guarentee; “The Christian life is not difficult to live. It's impossible to live…God never intended for you to live it… Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever successfully lived the Christian life, and His plan is to live it through you.”
How’s that for an “Aha” moment!
With caffeine and divine inspiration running through our veins, we turned back to our passage in Ephesians; I couldn’t help but to notice that the phrase in Christ occurs ten times in the first thirteen verses of Ephesians 1, along with in Him, through Jesus Christ, through His blood, alive with Christ, through the cross, and through faith in Him reoccurring through the first four chapters of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. Clearly he wanted us to understand something very crucial to our Christian walk and our very motive for living.
And then that word again, the saints. Who are the saints? See if you can figure it out;
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may be called to know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” –Ephesians 1:18 & 19
If you have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, sainthood is for you. It’s what he has to offer you, and it is of nothing of your own doing, but it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
I wish more dear brothers and sisters understood this in order that they may more efficiently and freely live the life Christ has offered them and walk that narrow road in full confidence of their identity, in Christ. After all, you can’t live to the fullest, and in the abundance that is stored for each of us, until you know who you are; a topic I hope and look forward to writing on more fully in coming essays.
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