Frustrating Circumstances

It is sometimes expressed and many times thought that if something is tough or dangerous or psychologically distressing, it cannot be God's will.  That is the theology of children.  The Bible is filled with examples of His people laboring without reward, success or encouragement of "a brighter day".  Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel come to mind!  Paul often stayed where he wasn't wanted but did not assume the Holy Spirit was taking him elsewhere.  David spent ten years wandering about without a home  and no clear indication that  he would ever get to where he hoped to be and yet he still was the Lord's anointed and the chosen future king of Israel.  The Lord brings us through many side trails and tough spots on our journey;  although it may seem like we are wandering aimlessly or off track, we may be precisely where God wants us.  God's greatest servants had a "vagabond" quality to them.  They often seemed to be out of sorts with what they thought was "God's plan" for them.  Joseph did nothing wrong ( even if he may have been a bit arrogant) to warrant his years in prison and in fact it was the rightness of his life that opened the door to imprisonment.  Would we tell Joseph that he was not aligned with God's plan for him and should find some other direction for his life when he was responding to the needs of the Baker and Cupbearer?  Did he "miss the boat" as he delivered meals to his fellow prisoners or was Joseph working within the full orchestration of God's will?  We grow weary of our labors, wondering if we have fallen out of line with God.  Because it is hard, our frustration builds and we start swinging our head from side to side frantically looking for some way out of our troubles.  Jesus said that we were to come to Him when we were weary and heavy laden and He would give us rest.  He might move us along or keep us right where we are but either way, it is Christ who is our rest and not the change of course.    To "trust in the Lord" is not for the fainthearted.  There are times when it seems far more rational to make up a new plan and step away from the hardships we face.   Year ninety-nine of Noah's ark building project may be similar to what you are facing today.  Be careful not to throw away all God is doing in and through you because you are frustrated by your lot in life.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.   Romans 8: 20-21 NIV

Wish or Do

There is a level of Christianity that never reaches farther than a wish.  It likes the thought of praying, it is impressed by sacrificial giving, it believes in loving hurtful people, it knows it ought to look away when tempted but it just will not make the move.   What good is an "amen" if it has no legs under it?  Would we think it reasonable for a fisherman to bait the hook and never cast the line out into the water or a student to prepare for an exam and never take the test or for a bride to stand at the altar with the man she loves and never voice the vows?  Are we Ananias and Sapphira who wished for the reputation of holiness without the sanctification of the gift?  Our born-again spirit longs to run to the horizons of holy living but our body wants to just go so far and no further.  Like the child standing at the edge of the pool who dreads the first chill of the water, we wait and wait to throw our lives fully into God, afraid of what true holiness will mean.    But those who have gone before us...the Apostle Pauls and the Apostle Peters and the Mary Magdalenes and the Ruths urge us onward and outward.  "Forsake the love of the world" , they urge.  "Abandon yourself to Christ."  Trust Him with the sorrow of leaving behind your chair and chase the dream of living within the wild unknown of God's will for you today.  Perhaps He has something risky and preposterous for you to do at this moment but you sit waiting and waiting for the breeze to blow another way so it will be easier for you.  It will never get easier; only more risky and more preposterous as the hesitation extends beyond the limits set by God.  Now cannot be later if you do not want to go away "sorrowfully"  like the poor young man who was too rich to go beyond the wish of Christianity.

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?   John 5:44 NIV

Personhood

An individual has no accountability to anyone.  He does as he pleases when he wants.  The person has merged with the personhood of God and lives within the personality of God.  There is no other way to know God than to live within Him; for His nature to come into your nature and transform yours.  Otherwise you merely know about God as rumors and individualized ideas.  We are more likely to fight for our individualization than give way to the transformation of Christ in us.  Sarah could never have gone with Abraham up the mountain to take her son Isaac onto the altar.  She had not yet shown any sign that God's will was becoming hers.  She was happy to receive His gift but not so prepared to take His nature.  We sigh at the prospect of being transformed by the Spirit of God not because we don't like the idea of it but because we dread the actuality of it.  In real life as you stand before the stove and while you pull out your notes to study or as you meet with your supervisor, the Spirit of God will rise up and make His will certain to you and it is then that you decide for your individuality or your personality.  There is no room for God in your individuality but all the space you need in your personality.  Knowing God comes the moment you bend your will into God's and give Him full sway over your circumstance at the moment.  Something will need to be placed on the altar...a desire, a grudge, a discontentment, an achievement, a visionary attainment...but it must be given up on the spot or you will stumble off on your own and gain nothing but the delusion of self-hood.  Hell is not the cadre of the like-minded; it is the stuffing together of individuals who can never be together at any level any longer.  Both Abraham and Isaac found at the same moment their union with God.  Just imagine the love that swept over them as they made their way back home together.  An individual, caught up in what he will and will not do can never know this wild and consumptive love; he is left only to talk about it. 
I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  Philippians 3:8 NIV

Undisturbed or Undetermined

Have we got anything to look forward to today?  Are we satisfied with the way things are going to such a degree that it would be perturbing if God said “do this” or “do that” all of a sudden?  Could we bounce out of our plans or are we too settled for God to blow them apart and not come unglued ourselves?  What would we give to have things go smoothly right now?  Is there something we can’t see torn asunder?  Have we a freedom of the Spirit that leaves us empty of self-will and determination?  God is not interested in us becoming the best we can be or making our days uncomplicated and settled.  He is righting the ship that has been broken completely by the storms of sin we have leveled against it.  We are undone and don’t realize it because we are too far invested in ourselves and how we want things to go.  God’s will for us is to kill off our will so that we can be one with Him and free of the tangled weeds of sin choking our life.  He must break up our day and shatter our plans for us to give in to Him and let Him become our all in all.  The sacredness of the day is not found in what we accomplish or set out to accomplish but rather in our complete trust in Christ to make of it as He will.  That does not mean passively sitting back in a mess of meaningless activities but rather drawing near to the Holy Spirit in each and every part of the day.   It is not Christian to realize your dreams.  It is Christian to die to the will to sin and become so in love with Jesus that nothing He makes of our moment is cursed and everything we want is undisturbed by a love of the world.  Find a moment to love Christ without conditions.  Let this day be His.