05/24/2018
Have you ever been living out your life and suddenly realized that something you were doing wasn’t what Jesus would have done? In our early years of faith this might be an obvious diversion from a major teaching of Jesus, but as we grow in faith it will most likely be subtle... yet the blessing we gain from this realization, and changing how we behave to be in obedience to Christ in it, is just as strong as when we first believed. The sin of disobedience just as abhorrent.
“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
John 13:17 ESV
There is an old saying that each of us has certainly heard before that deals with the little intricate things of our life and faith, and it goes like this: “The devil is in the details.” This speaks to our understanding and attempting to do the larger thing, but being tripped up by the minutia of an endeavor.
As I studied this saying, I found that the original saying from which this was derived was quite old, and very different. The oldest use of the phrase that has been found was French and went like this: “le bon dieu est dans le detail”, or translated into English goes like this... “God is in the detail.” The Common form we use today has a negative connotation, but the original had a more positive gist... yet both are true.
Finding God in the details of scripture and our lives and then doing those things brings great blessing to us, but it is precisely in these details that Satan goes to work, and attempts to lead us astray, or deceive us. Great battles have been won or lost on the most minute events, and so it is in the battle for our souls. We can adhere to the greatest of God’s commandments, and be undone by the apparently small and insignificant details of faith.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12 ESV
In our attempt to live out God’s overarching rules we do things like never telling a lie, but then in the heat of the moment comes a “white lie”, the one we tell because it helps us achieve a larger good, or helps us avoid hurting someone’s feelings. Our daily lives are filled with such occurrences, and justifications, and we even make up phrases for them so that they sound more legitimate... “That wasn’t a sin, it was just a tiny white lie.” Yet God is certainly in the details of our lives...
“one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Ephesians 4:6 ESV
Jesus is the head of the church and in everything associated with it. There is no speck of dust that floats solitary in a beam of light within the most distant chapel, or before an isolated pew, of which he is unaware, and yet the white lies, and subtle deceptions remain and are justified as benefiting the church... where is the blessing?
“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
Colossians 1:17-18 ESV
We tell ourselves that the devil is in the details, but so is God. As we go about our day today, and seek Him in all we do, listen to His voice, and let your conscience, which is fed by the Holy Spirit, guide you in your obedience. The stakes are high in obeying the commandments, but each one is comprised of details... and our disobedience in the details can be our undoing.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for revealing the details of your commandments, and Word, to me. I thank you for the tug of your Holy Spirit upon my heart that guides me in obedience to the nuances of your will in my life. Help me Father to obey you in the smallest details of my faith, and not to overlook a single one. Protect me from the subtle lies of Satan as he whispers in my ear, and attempts to convince me that the little infractions I am ensnared by are of no consequence. Forgive me Lord for the lies, and the white lies alike; forgive me of the subtle sins I have convinced myself were necessary that you might be served better. Keep me from those things Merciful Father, and don’t let a speck of sin in my life be met by justification. Show me the intricacies of your Word Gracious Lord, and bless me as I obey you in them. Show me the wisdom behind the most obscure action of Jesus, and teach me to imitate them. You are in the details of my life Father, and it is here that I meet you most intimately, and that I join with you against Satan in the most ferocious battle for my soul. Jesus said the last would be first, and that what we do to “the least of these” we have done to Him... help me hear your whispers in my ear as if they were shouts Father, and obey them both the same. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God. Great are you in the details, even as in the grand actions of my faith. You reign glorious, and equally, on the stage, and in the secret places of my life; it is you who can make the smallest of rocks sing, and my heart race with a softly spoken word. Praised be your name!
Rich Forbes