What happens when I abandon doing it my way

 

Today’s devotional offers more on the difference between law and grace. Most of them contrast what law asks for and what God gives. For example, the law demands holiness while the gospel gives holiness. The law says do; the gospel says done. The law places the day of rest at the end of the week’s work; the gospel places it at the beginning. Under the law, salvation has wages; under the gospel, salvation is a gift.

Our big problem is waiting. Some of what we hope for is not instant. I pray, sometimes for years, yet see no answer. Will I take matters into my own hands? Not a good idea. Abraham and Sarah did that, producing a son from her handmaid whose descendants are still trying to destroy the descendants of the son that God gave later.

Waiting on God is difficult. Not only that, He produces patience by trials.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

And those trials are a huge temptation to take matters into our own hands, even asking God to remove them rather than yielding to their purpose. Yet in yielding, we have power with God because our prayers eventually bear fruit, and almost always in surprising ways. If the flesh insists on personal comfort and God relents, I will miss the surprise and the joy of experiencing God’s sufficiency.

So what else is in it for me if I yield to God? Faith is about knowing what cannot be seen. In yielding, I will not have a clue — but I will have the promises of God. Is that not a great something? This verse seems to refer to physical battles, it also points to the abundant life that Jesus gives:

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go. (Jeremiah 45:5)

Oswald Chambers says, “This is the unshakable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him” for what more does anyone want than their life? He adds, “’Thy life for a prey’ means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life, nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in the show of things, not in the way of property and possessions, but of blessings. All these have to go; but there is something grander that never can go—the life that is ‘hid with Christ in God.’ ”

Chambers says the test is in how we question God with suppositions, asking ‘what about this’ which reveals that I’m not trusting Him with all things. The opposite is thinking no more about what God is going to do after I ask Him to do something.
This week, two large issues involving people with mental health issues had me praying until I reached a place of trusting the Lord to take care of them. When that happened, I was surprised to be no longer thinking about them and their problems. Not that I ceased to care, but that I ceased to worry. I can hear Him saying, “I got this” and am now waiting to see what happens.

So abandoning anything to God means no more questions or ‘what if’ thoughts. Chambers says that people get tired because their life is not seen as given to them by Jesus. He adds, “When you do get through to abandonment to God, you will be the most surprised and delighted creature on earth; God has got you absolutely and has given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience or a refusal to be simple enough.”

PRAY: Jesus, forgive me for actually being worried that I have no concerns and thinking that means I don’t care — instead of recognizing the peace that comes with giving all my worries to You. Certainly Your yoke is easy and Your burdens are light. You are taking care of the things that I abandon to You so I don’t need to be anxious. The gospel says Your peace will guard my heart and mind, and this peace is greater than my understanding! How incredibly easy to worship You!

Fearing abandonment?

I’ve only one recurring nightmare and seldom experience it, but early this morning I woke shaking with emotion. This vivid dream is about being abandoned and mocked because of my dismay.

Again, I asked God to show me what this is about and He surprised me with Chambers’ devotional. It is about being abandoned to God. The verse is the same as yesterday, but the focus is on the last part, the promise made along with the warning not to selfishly seek great things.

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.” (Jeremiah 45:5)

A previous verse says the same thing, adding a reason for that gift: “’For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 39:18)

The psalmist also declares the same prescription for those who fear evil: “The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.” (Psalm 37:40)

Chambers says this is the Lord’s unshakable secret for those who trust Him. In the context in Jeremiah, this was a literal promise to protect the listener from dying in a war, but the key is trusting Him.

For me, I take it as a personal promise — God will enable me to be a survivor in my war against the world, the flesh, and that old liar — the devil. Again, the key to surviving any battle and even the fear of loss is trusting God. It is giving all that I am and all that I do into His hands, but also trusting Him with all that comes against me.

Romans 8:28-29 makes a promise that goes with these other verses: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28–29)

Some Christians say we need to: “Let go and let God.” This way of life has been put down as abdicating personal responsibility to obey, but in many cases that response is a misunderstanding. Letting go isn’t about abdicating obedience; it is letting go of control. 

I’ve tried to control life in many ways with manipulation being the worst. Equally serious is telling God what to do all the time, as if I know more than He does about my concerns.

However, abandoning myself to God also means letting go of the ‘great things’ that my ambition may claw after and letting go of the things that I fear. He is sovereign over both. He will not allow anything into my life that He cannot use to transform it, nor will He give me any ‘great thing’ if I will use it to rob Him of His glory. He is sovereign.

Regardless of what I might face or struggle with, God promises to give me my life as a prize of war. That life is not ‘my’ life in the sense of the old flesh, but in the sense of the life I have hidden with Christ in God. It is true life, eternal life, abundant life. It is the freedom of recognizing that Jesus Christ is Lord of all without badgering Him with questions and suggestions or any demands at all. It is accepting with the simplicity of a child who totally trusts her father. It is also discovering that the abandoned life isn’t a nightmare but a glorious journey that may include trials, but also includes a deep and often playful joy.

Matching my ‘great things’ with God’s ‘great things’

Once full of ambition, I’m slowing down. It could be too many birthdays, but God has redefined my priorities.

Jeremiah says to his companion “And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord . . . .” (Jeremiah 45:5)

Many other passages speak of personal ambition. Here are a few of them:

Contentment: O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1–2)

Humility: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:3–5)

Checking the source: But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:14–18)

After reading these and then Chambers’ conclusions (based on the one from Jeremiah), it seems important to clarify what kind of ‘great things’ am I supposed to not seek. It seems there are some things God wants me to go for, so what are they? And what is the difference between them and the selfish ambitions described above?

Jesus talked to His disciples about seeking food and clothing, the daily necessities of life: “For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:32–33) This means I’m not to be ambitiously preoccupied with my own daily needs. God will provide.

Matthew 7:7 tells me to seek and I will find, linking this to “good things” that God will give me. Romans 2:7 also says that I’m to “do well as I seek for glory, honor, and immortality” putting my focus on eternal matters, not caught up in the temporary stuff of this life.

1 Corinthians 10:24 tells me to seek the good of others and Philippians 4:17 adds that I’m to seek out in others spiritual fruit produced through the power of the Holy Spirit. Colossians 3:1 is explicit that I seek what is ‘above’ where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Again, this is having an eternal focus.

However, 1 Peter 3:11 tells me to seek peace, not just for myself but for a very needy world.

Chambers says we are to seek God only, not merely the gifts God gives. I understand that. If I make peace, honor, etc. my sole reason for living, I am in error. However, if my relationship with God is first and foremost in my heart and mind, it is not evil to seek for the good things that He gives. It only becomes a problem if He withholds them and I begin to resent God because of it.

His goal for me is that I am like Jesus in my attitude. He said, “Not my will but thine be done.” If I can say and mean that, then I am seeking a great thing. But if I am thinking, “God, this is what I want from You” and have even the tiniest suggestion of ultimatum in that request, then I am not seeking God at all, only His ‘good’ things.

Chambers sometimes makes it sound like I must have all the right attitudes and motives before God will give me anything. However, I’ve learned that even the right attitudes and motives are gifts from God. If I am asking for these, even as I ask for other things, God hears me and begins to change all selfishness and personal ambition into a deeper desire to know Him and to ask with the mind of Jesus Christ. He wants me to drop that ‘me first’ ambition because it isn’t among His list of great things.