The Holy One calls to me this morning. I confess that I live my life in God’s
Word. Many have tried to convince me
over the years that the Word is not to be taken so literally but I do tend to
see my life literally or symbolically on every page. All my struggles, all my hopes, and all my
circumstances are somewhere written in God’s Word.
I guess I am a hopeless romantic for the Sacred Romance that
I read about in the Holy Scriptures.
From the damsel in distress waiting for her rescue to the kingdom battle
between good and evil, I see the Heavenly things as my earthly reality.
The Holy One challenges me periodically to check myself in
the trust department. He questions me on
that issue today.
“I know you trust My
will BUT do you trust My ways?”
God’s Word is His will.
And I do definitely trust His will.
But there is, in my mind, a difference between trusting His will and
trusting His ways of bringing it to pass in my personal life and trial.
When I cannot see the road ahead, it is harder for me to trust
my Navigator. Many times the Lord has
told me to “fly by the instruments” when clouds cover my view of the
terrain. Today He reminds me of His
Word:
2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith and not by
sight”. And then, Hebrews 11:1, “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.
I understand by God’s Word that I am being sanctified (made
Holy) through the trials of life that come my way. But when the “bee stings and the dog bites”,
as they say, I wonder about His ways. In
the beginning of a hard trial, I find it difficult to see or accept what
appears to be His “way” of perfecting me.
Bottom line is that I squeal like a stuck pig and try my best to avoid
the cross until I come to terms with what He allows as His “way” within His
will.
My Lord brings me to the faith crisis where I must, on shaky
legs, stand.
Mary and Martha were brought to a similar place when their
brother Lazarus died. In the culture of
the day, the death of their brother was in many ways the death of their life as
well. He was their provider and
protector and held the inheritance rights that were needed for their future and
lives as women.
Their desire was to have him healed to carry on in life as
one they loved and needed. The account of Jesus raising him from the dead in
John 11 was a beautiful representation to me that their desire and God’s will
was the same. But for a few agonizing
days and in a life and death trial they were forced to accept God’s ways, which
were quite different than they imagined in the discovery and execution of His
Will.
They suffered in a temporal loss to have revealed to them
God’s eternal gain: Jesus their friend, was also the Resurrection and the
Life. God wrapped in flesh and the One
who holds power over death as well as sickness. God’s will was the greater revelation and
His way for them required Lazarus to die so Jesus could come and exercise His
power over death.
We have this account as an applicable principle foundation
for our faith. Today I simple confess,
“Lord, your will AND Your way, may it be as You say. Please give me the faith to trust you even
when I do not understand Your way”.
When it seems that surrender means my death and I surrender
anyway, the Cross has had its perfect result and resurrection/restoration is
soon to follow. I must continue to
stand firm believing that my heart desire and His will are one in the same but
I also must trust His way of bringing it into my life.
The Spirit is calling.
Can you hear Him?
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