08/19/3018
You think you are righteous, after all you have been working at it diligently for quite some time, maybe all your life, and yet you fail at pretty much the same frequency that you always have... what is wrong? Why is progress in your faith so slow, or stalled? I am going to ask you a simple question that might possibly drill to the heart of your struggle... Are you continuously seeking Jesus for yourself, or have you said to him “here I am Lord, I am yours.”?
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
Romans 7:18 ESV
As humans it is our nature to work, well at least for most of us, and each of us in varying degrees, but you get the picture. We like to do things for ourselves, and we typically want to be shown how to do something, once, and then for our teacher to get out of the way while we go about doing it. Is this how you seek out your faith?
I have a grandson who is especially hard headed, and wants to do everything for himself. For example, when he is putting together a puzzle he wants me to sit beside him and watch, but not to help him in any way. For him to ask my help is a very rare thing. I could show him some tricks that would make the task easier, but he is adamant in his ability to do it on his own. By doing this it takes him hours, and sometimes he will put pieces where they don’t go, or give up before he finishes it. As I watch him I realize that this is exactly the way I am tempted to approach my faith.
We are not so different, my grandson and me... or you and I. We want to work the puzzle of our faith out for ourselves, and then to call out to God...”Look What I Have Done Father!!!” Does this sound familiar? Do you read scripture and ponder it yourself, or do you allow God to read it to you? Do you tell the Lord what you desire His will for you to be when you pray, or do you ask Him, and allow Him to show it to you? We can all be so much like my young grandson... the greatest lesson in faith is how to give ourselves over to God... to allow Him to save us, and to give us His grace.
I was reading Andrew Murray, and he expressed this so well. He spoke of how dangerous it was for us to allow ourselves to take charge of seeking God, and then wrote of the joys of allowing Him to not just dwell in us, but to take command of our lives. Let’s listen to an excerpt from his thoughts...
“Remember, self that seeks to serve God is more dangerous than self that refuses to obey God. Look upon it with Holy fear, and hide yourself in Christ. Jesus Christ will indeed take possession of you and dwell in you; and in the restfulness, peace, and grace of the new life, you will have unceasing joy at the wondrous exchange that has been made - the coming out of self to abide in Him alone.” - Andrew Murray
When my grandson wanted me to be there beside him, but refused my help, he turned a relationship into a performance. We have a tendency to do that in our faith “Watch me Father! See how good I am!” But in reality we are not so good, and we have denied the one thing He wants more than anything else... our loving relationship with Him... to truly influence our lives with all He is, and has to offer.
I have the greatest of admiration for teachers, Jesus was a teacher, and yet as He taught there were three types of people in His classroom, even as He delivered some of His greatest lessons like the beatitudes... there were those who looked to Him as their wonderful teacher, those who were trying to decide if He truly had anything to teach them, and finally there were those who listened to His every word in an effort to discredit Him. So I ask you to be honest with yourself as you answer this question... “Which of these are you?”
“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”
Matthew 4:23 ESV
To some of us who profess our Christianity we will say that Jesus is our teacher, but for a great many of us we will claim to believe He is, but then come to the realization that we are busy trying to decide if He really has anything to teach us. We find that we are actually asking if He has anything further for us that we don’t already know, or that we can’t teach ourselves... we read the Bible to Him, and puff up our chest in All we have come to understand. We want to control our relationship with God... we want to sit on the front of the teacher’s desk and read the Bible to Jesus.
Learning to let Jesus into our hearts can come relatively easy, but giving him full reign over them is something that doesn’t come quite so easily to us. We are a lot like my small grandson... he loves me, and wants me right by his side, but he won’t allow me the pleasure and joy of being his teacher. He is missing out on much of what I have to offer him, and I am starving for the relationship I know we could have.
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:15-16 ESV
So if you are stuck in a spiritual rut, or find yourself committing the same old sins over and over again, then just maybe you are busy working at your faith alone in an attempt to impress God. Maybe you need to slide off of the teacher’s desk, give God’s Word back to Jesus, and allow Him to assume His rightful role in your relationship. Maybe you should look up from the puzzle pieces and say “Show me Father!”
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for dwelling within me, but even more Lord, I thank you for lovingly taking control of my heart and soul as I sit at your feet. I thank you for the relationship we have in which I find myself being led to greater righteousness, and even experiencing your holiness as your wisdom and grace radiates around and through me. You are more than just my God who I wish to impress, but my Heavenly Father who I want to be like. I want to learn who you are Father, and not just what you are. I want to see your goodness, your mercy, your wisdom, your knowledge, your peacefulness, and all the other attributes that are what you are made of, but more than that Lord, I want to dwell in the spaces between those things... I want the relationship which allows me to take all of those things that you are, and abide within you in the quiet places between them, between the wisdom and grace where I find who you are... I want to be made alive in the who of your presence. Teach me Father, take the pieces of the puzzle that lies before me, and guide my hand as we complete it together. Don’t let me get lost in myself, or to lose sight of what I want so desperately... to know you.
You are my great teacher, my loving Father, and in your presence I desire to live forever. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who was, and is, and is to come. Let me lose myself in the glorious space between these Holy Father... and to find peace in finding who you are... the God in whose image I was made.
“"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
Psalms 46:10-11 ESV
Rich Forbes