It is morally impossible to exercise trust in God while there is failure to wait upon Him for guidance and direction. The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty.
~DE Hoste
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good bondservant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. … Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 1 Timothy 4
Oh beloved, it is true.
The are some days, and some seasons where the path He has set before us is much more like a climb up a mountain. The days become darker, and we understand less and less about what is happening in our present, and what seems to be coming in the future.
No, this fool of a writer is not the first person to figure out that life. Even the writer of the passage above, went through hardship so deep and extended that it only ended when he – quite literally – lost his head at the order of Nero.
When you see your appetites darkened, your inclinations dry and constrained, your faculties incapacitated for any interior exercise, do not be afflicted; think of this as a grace… God takes you by the hand and guides you in darkness, as though you were blind, along a way and to a place you know not. You would never have succeeded in reaching this place no matter how good your eyes and your feet.
~Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
However, the fact that my thoughts are not original, do not make them any less important. This is especially true in our world that is saying everything needs to happen immediately. However, the deeper and harder work of growing up, only comes when we dig incredibly deep into the inner man that He is making us.
People will lie to us
Disease will strike
We will be treated unfairly at work
Others will not understand us
Situations will put us under incredible stress
And… if we choose to say that we honestly believe in the power of Christ to do the Father’s will (Grace), then we will quickly begin to understand that all of the stuff that feels so weird, and hard, and unnecessary, is actually the stuff that is required for us to grow up.
Can we see it?
The Word of G_d is clear: His Word is both the framework for our growth, and the guide for how things will go for a slave of G_d. This word slave is clear as well. We are not only the property of G_d, we are now His dear sons and daughters. So, we are constrained to obey by both His blood-purchase and our everlasting relationship. Said more simply: We obey because we are his property. But, we also obey because we are deeply and abidingly Loved!
Sometimes it looks a lot like this: Left foot… Right foot…. Left foot… Right foot…. Left foot… Right foot…. Consult with the directions… Left foot… Right foot…. Left foot… Listen to His Voice… Right foot…. Left foot… Right foot…. Consult with the directions… ONE. STEP. AT. A. TIME.
And, if we are not careful, we can begin to think that maybe we just don’t have one ounce of maturity. That we are so untrained that we can barely even function. But! What we can actually find, is that our simple obedience – absent of the ‘good feelings’ of obedience – has yielded enormous progress.
Many have fallen off the climb (and we feel like might just do the same). And, none of our progress is anything to boast about. However, we can take great comfort in the fact that each step we take, takes us closer to the summit of the mountain of G_d.
So, are you feeling like your life is hard right now? We are in a terribly difficult time at the moment. Our lives are being squeezed, and we are feeling incredibly hurt by people close to us. We feel like we are going nowhere and that our leaden feet are simply shuffling. BUT, we are seeing that this really is the Level 12 stuff of life. We are near the summit. We are almost Home.
With each step, we sense His Presence in our pain. With each nod of obedience in our trudging, we sense His pleasure in our growth.
Would you join us?
Tonight is your night. Time to go to the next level in your walk Home.
Self-chosen authority is an impertinence. Jesus said that the great ones in this world exercise authority but that in his kingdom it is not so; no one exercises authority over another because in his kingdom the king is servant of all. If a saint tries to exercise authority, it is a proof that he is not rightly related to Jesus Christ.
~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
