03/23/2017
Do you move along in your life of faith and feel like you are making great strides in sanctity only to have some trivial thing reawaken the old sinful person you used to be? Well, we all do, and our lives of faith are a constant struggle against our natural selves... so what can we do to overcome this?
“for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”
1 Corinthians 3:3 ESV
But even as Paul tells the Corinthians that they are behaving as humans, he gives the Galatians a solution... "Live by the Spirit."
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Galatians 5:16-17 ESV
It sounds so simple... live by the Spirit, but then you are in a crowded parking lot and a car zips into the parking space that you have been patiently waiting for with your turn signal on. Sound familiar? In truth these little happenings catch us off guard and we react to them instinctively without thinking.
Sometimes the big events in our life are a lot easier to control and resist spiritually. They usually happen more slowly and give us time to think them through, but the quick little "flash happenings" don't let us think, and we are left with the disappointment of that spontaneous human response... the cuss word that is out so fast that you are shocked by it, the gesture you gave someone, or perhaps it is just the way something makes you feel and the disappointment in yourself it brings.
One winter morning I pulled into the parking lot at work. It had snowed a few days earlier and the lot was rather slick, so I eased slowly into the parking space, stepped out of my car, took one step and fell flat on my back. Instantly I sprang to my feet, and before I could even take a breath, I was looking around to see if anyone had seen me fall. I could have been bleeding or suffering with a broken wrist, but the inner man took over and he was more concerned with not being embarrassed.
"Flash sins" that spring from "flash happenings" are just like that... they happen so fast and automatically that we can't stop them, but they do have an upside! They remind us of who we are beneath the covers. They remind us that despite all of our efforts we are less that a second from our sinful nature. So what do we do?
As Christians we shouldn't try to make excuses for our lapses in behavior, we should simply ask those we offend and the Lord for forgiveness. Don't try to fool yourself into believing you were innocent, or that it wasn't your fault, just face the reality of the situation and take it to God. Let Him help you overcome that obstacle to your true sanctification.
Some of us have lived longer than others in this sinful world, and several of us have lived closer to many daily sins; all of which have given these things, and sins, more opportunity to become habitual, and deeply ingrained. Yet, regardless of their depth, they are unacceptable, and must be surfaced and dealt with. We might think we are sanctified, but despite all of our prayers of confession, our baptism, and the unending effort to change our lives, there is still work to do.
So when I find myself looking around the parking lot of sin I thank God for showing me that not only do I have a ways to go, but I thank Him for allowing me to ask His help in dealing with the unconquered sin in me. Every "flash sin" brings me closer to sanctification if I just hand it to the Lord and say "forgive me" and then "help me Father."
Prayer:
Father, thank you for those "flash happenings" that expose the "flash sins" I wouldn't see otherwise, and in their aftermath I thank you for hearing my confession and plea for forgiveness. Jesus, in the moments when my conscious mind gives way to the eruption of my humanity, I am embarrassed before you and hide my face, but in you I find intercession and help in overcoming those sins. You are my hope when I find myself lost in the instant emotional outbursts of anger, jealousy, or pride, and you cleanse me from it with your precious blood. Holy Father continue to reveal my shortcomings, and lead me in your Word, and by your Son, to claim righteousness and freedom from the flash emotions that lay hidden within me... even from myself.
Rich Forbes