One of those gray areas . . .

This morning I was thinking about something I want to do, but had some doubts about whether God wants me to do it. It is one of those gray areas, not sin in the action, but perhaps in my motivation. My prayer was that He would show me from Scripture. My feelings and my ‘I wants’ can block His voice and when that happens, I want to hear what He has to say in black and white, with no confusion.

These verses are for today’s reading, verses whose application has not always been clear. However, Chambers clarifies them for me, and God answers my prayer.

“Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5:25–26)

Chambers says this instruction is based on a principle: Do what you know you must do, now, and do it quickly. It I don’t, there is a process that will eventually bring pain and distress. God’s laws are unalterable; there is no escape from them.

From this, I do not hear the Lord saying “Do what you want to do” but rather, “Do what I want you to do.” The same principle applies; if I don’t, there will be consequences. If I go my own way, I will regret it. If I obey the Lord, the results will please Him and be a blessing to me and others.

This passage is not about how others treat me, even though it refers to accusers. If the accuser is right and I insist on my rights, or having my way, or act in ways that displease the Lord Jesus Christ, I’m to bring myself to God’s judgment and let Him say yes or no to my situation. If I don’t, the problem will not go away.

Chamber’s lines that speak loudly are these: “God is determined to have His child as pure and clean and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will prevent none of the working of His spirit. Our insistence in proving that we are right is nearly always an indication that there has been some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit so strongly urges to keep steadfastly in the light!”

My issue is not about settling differences with an accuser, yet the Holy Spirit reminds me of the reality of my spiritual accuser, the enemy who accuses me before God day and night.

“ . . . . Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:10–11)

Satan accusations are designed to ruin my faith and turn me from trusting God. This gives clarity. Will the thing I want to do be a reflection of pure faith? Or does it have an insistence in it that indicates either lack of faith or a point of disobedience or both?

If God wants me to do something, He will nudge me until I pay attention. If Satan wants me to do something, he will accomplish his purpose by lies and accusations. The only way to overcome him is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, by my declaration of faith in God, and by disregarding whatever I might want — even if it leads to my demise.

If I insist on my own way, my accuser will trip me up. If I do not love my own life or my own way then I will conquer this adversary, not by being reconciled to him, but because I have been reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, and enabled to obey Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.