Unlovely, nay frightful, is the solitude of the soul which is without God in the world—this chill, houseless, fatherless, aimless Cain, the man who hears only the sound of his own footsteps in God’s resplendent creation.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 1 Corinthians 15
Oh beloved, it is true. There is a rest that we must spend the rest of our lives working to enter into. Everything within us will fight to move out of the place where things can actually get done.
We spent years, before coming to know Him, coming up with our own solutions to problems. And while none of them ever worked, we were quite used to thinking that if we just tried things another way, a solution was just around the corner.
It never worked. But our restless souls did not know what to do. They paced around in the cage of our bodies and missed (or resisted) the Voice that called out and invited them to rest.
Somehow though, He broke through the tenacious wreckage of who we were. There was a moment, where we came to a dead standstill. It was glorious. We were ruined. Finally, the machinery of self that was destroying us, fell to pieces.
However, we awoke from the beautiful reunification of our spirits with His, and we realized that our bodies were not yet Home. Ahead of us was an enormous work. We were brought into the Family business. We were to invite others to join us in allowing our lives to be destroyed that they might finally be made whole in Him.
The journey seemed so long…
And in seeing ourselves (incorrectly) enslaved to a long time of trying to get things done for our King, the old body of sin (which must be reckoned dead) within us starts coming up with suggestions again on how to get things done. Perhaps – if we listen – we will be able to really make an impact and do things in a more efficient and effective way.
It still doesn’t work, does it?
Can we see it? The Gospel is full of it. There is something of which we must be convinced. We never did any good on our own. Anything we tried was fallen and corrupt.
None of the work is about us working for Him. He simply does not need us. He could use anything to fulfill His plans. But, in His Great Love, He has chosen to take the weak and fallen and raise us up more powerful than we could ever hope or dream. And in this state, we are unstoppable.
Said more simply: Us staying in that rest that He has given us, is the only (read one and only) place where the power to fulfill our commission exists. And anything we do to try and augment His working in us and through us, only gums up the entire works.
So, are you feeling like the road ahead of you is too long? Are you tempted to try and workout some shortcuts? May this fool of a writer preach for a moment? Don’t. It never worked, and it never will. Settle into the reality that you are already in eternity with Him. Rest in this reality. Come to that stopped stillness for the long-term, where His infinite power intersects with us in time. Now (as in, right now) is the only place to be.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to rest. Time to let the Worker work.
