Finding what is acceptable . . .

The night was dark and rainy. We woke to dullness and rain clouds, but just now, the sun came out. I don’t have a problem with gloomy days (and we really need rain), but I do enjoy that warm light shining through my window.

Today I’m again reading verses about light and darkness. My devotional reading illustrates the verses by saying that the shops in Damascus have no windows. If you want to buy something, you have to take it outside into the light to see its quality. This is also true of life’s choices.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10)

When I am in spiritual darkness through disobedience, I cannot see the will of God. To find out what the Lord accepts, I must examine it in the light. Light is about truth and doing what He says. That is, if God says to do something and I do it, then He has given me light and I am walking in that light. This isn’t about understanding the reason for the command up front. I might not, but in the doing of that command I test and discover its true value.

Other passages explain that I must walk by faith, not by sight. Jesus is not here to physically show me what He wants, and neither does God always explain why His way is the better way. Instead, I am to walk by faith and do things because I trust Him, not because I am convinced that such actions makes sense. What He asks may seem odd, or strange, or even wrong, but experience shows me that I often find out what is totally right and acceptable after I walk in obedience.

As a new Christian, there were not many tests to my faith, but the older I get, the more my faith is tested. However, just like the shopper in Damascus, and just as I test God’s commands, God also takes me into light to see if I have flaws in me. He checks me out to see if I will do what He says. Will I obey simply because He gave the command? Or do I have to see the reason or the sense in it? I say I trust Him, but do I really mean what I say? It is at this point that many Christians stumble.

One of the biggest issues in the church today is the role of women. Discussion of that topic usually produces more heat than light because many women find themselves in situations where the biblical commands do not make sense. Rather than test them and find out their acceptability, several groups try to excise them from Scripture, or at least find reasons why these commands do not apply to them. Their faith is being tested.

These verses apply also to those who have no faith. A close relative belongs to a cult that seems dedicated to their beliefs, but they choose to obey only a few parts of the Bible that they agree with. The rest of the Bible is interpreted to suit their preferences. As a result, they have no light and no assurance about the will of God. They walk in darkness.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV). This is a God thing. Without faith, the invisible is uncertain and assurance is absent.

The amazing part is that when God puts the life of Christ into someone, He also gives light. This is an ability to know what cannot otherwise be known. For instance, in Christ I am totally sure of my eternal life and absolutely positive of the existence and power of God. I cannot see Him, nor do I always know what He is doing, but faith enables me to walk in the light, even to trust Him when His commands do not seem to make sense.

My faith is not perfect. Sometimes I do not do what He says. I wander back into the cave where it is dark and get stuck in that darkness until I confess my disobedience and lack of faith. He then pulls me out of the darkness, gives me light, and tells me to walk in it. I’ve tested and learned, this time in a negative sense.

I’m shaking my head as I write this. It sounds so easy, and it would be except that my sinful nature (that is dead and separated from God) still rears its ugly self and tries to convince me that cave-dwelling is the better way. No to faith in God actually means Yes to faith in myself and my own ideas. Part of all this testing also involves learning that faith in me is simply unacceptable.