Yesterday’s term, “a receptive mode” intrigues me. God is willing to give; am I willing to receive? And if I hesitate, what is behind that?
In today’s reading from God is Enough, the idea of being open to whatever God wants for me is expressed by two words, “consecration” and “abandonment.” Both mean an entire surrender to God. That is, my spirit, soul, and body are placed under His absolute control that He might do with me whatever pleases Him. In other words, like Jesus, I am saying, “Thy will be done.”
The writer of the devotional says she does not understand why so many Christians are blinded to this and seem more afraid of God’s will than of anything else in life. She adds that His perfect will means only “loving-kindnesses, tender mercies, and unspeakable blessings to our souls.”
I’m not sure this is correct. Is it true? Or is it a misconception? The Bible is clear about the possibility of false teaching. It tells how the first lies were suggested when Satan, disguised as a serpent, asked Eve, “Did God really say that?”
Behind his questions were hints that perhaps God did not want the best for Eve, and that disobedience to Him would bring her greater blessing. His lie included the notion that God didn’t love her at all, but had a personal agenda that disregarded her.
Since then, false teaching abounds. Some of it is blatant, some subtle. The New Testament says to test the spirits and see if they come from God. One way to do this is by testing the teaching with the life of Jesus Christ.
With those two things in mind, does total surrender to God mean only “loving-kindnesses, tender mercies, and unspeakable blessings” to my soul? Or can that surrender bring other things that are not so sweet and gentle?
The devotional author also says, “To a soul ignorant of God, this way of consecration may look hard; but to those who know Him, it is the happiest and most restful of lives. He is our Father, and He loves us and knows just what is best. Therefore, of course, His will is the most blessed thing that can come to us under any circumstances.”
I must ask what happened to Jesus when He totally consecrated Himself to God? Did He have the “happiest and most restful of lives” or was it more challenging? Most know the story. He came as a baby, grew up, spent three and a half years in the public eye where He was at first exalted and then rejected. In the end, even His own followers forsook Him as His enemies nailed Him to a cross. The outcome was fabulous, but some parts were anything but delightful.
Philippians 2:5-8 says that I am supposed to have the same mind as Jesus, who, even though He was “in the form of God, (He) did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
This is a realistic statement about abandonment to the will of God. So are several verses in Hebrews 11 that tell of God’s faithful people. Some of them, through faith, “subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.”
But it goes on and says, “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.”
I know that God can bring joy to the hearts of those in trials, even severe trials. The external person may be suffering, but inside knows peace. The devotional author could mean this, yet the wording is more like, “Trust God and your life will be perfect” rather than “Trust God and no matter what happens, you will know His goodness.”
When I entered the kingdom of God, I’m not sure of my expectations other than I thought God would be like my Dad, who basically gave me whatever I asked (as long as he could afford it). I soon learned that this was a false idea. God isn’t stingy; however, His gifts are based on what is best for me, not on my whims.
Others enter the kingdom with the idea that Christ will not let them have any more problems. That is nonsense. The worst of it is that when problems come, these people often become disillusioned and decide that being a Christian is not for them. They walk away, and for years wander in the wilderness of disappointment until they realize that God wants the best for them, and in His will, trials are included.
So don’t tell me being a Christian is the “happiest and most restful of lives.” Compared to a life controlled by sin that is so, but even those who are totally consecrated to Him and have abandoned their lives to His control find that the will of God also includes sorrow, heavy burdens, and hard work.
Romans 8:37-39 ends a list of the stuff that can happen to believers, stuff that threatens their understanding that God really does love them. The list includes tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, even death, but then it balances those threats with this: “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A new Christian may not understand how they can be sustained in trials, but I will not suggest that their trials are over, only that God’s love will never stop and once they grasp the reality of that, Satan can say or do whatever he likes—he, or anyone or thing else, cannot ruin their security in Christ.
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