When doing nothing is most important . . .

Some say that immaturity is that attitude of, “I want what I want when I want it” which is usually right now. That means maturity is the ability to wait, to be content with delayed gratification or with not ever having what I want. This is a good way to describe spiritual maturity as well. David, the psalmist king of Israel said . . .

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:11–14)

His enemies pressed hard on him. He was falsely accused and in danger. Those with faith might think about heaven and say that total peace is coming but David knew that God could bring total peace to him “in the land of the living.” His prescription for fear, stress and anxiety is waiting, not just sitting there, but trusting God to do something without being pressured by the idea that I must do something.

This is a timely word for me, a ‘rhema’ word. I am anxious these days about the world news, political situations, senseless violence, and the unbelief of millions as they flounder trying to find answers. I’m fearful because some of the people I care about the most are ignoring God and in spiritual danger.

I love Tozer’s encouragement. He says, “There is an inactivity that, paradoxically, is the highest possible activity.” He is not talking about physical waiting in the sense of staying put, but about focusing on the presence of God with expectation and waiting for Him to act. It can mean physical and mental inactivity, but for me it means yielding my efforts to figure out my own way and leaving all the things that stress me in the hands of God. He knows all about them, and He knows solutions that will never enter my head. He also knows how He is going to use what I think of as disasters in His plans for this world. He will glorify His Son, no matter how bad things look.

When I wait on God, His unfathomable peace enters. This is not a peace that denies or dismisses the problems as if they don’t exist anymore or are not important. It is a peace that acknowledges God not only knows but is totally able to change things or use them for good. I cannot see how that can happen yet choose to ignore my ignorance in favor of choosing God’s wisdom and power.

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Jesus, today appears to be a great day to bring to You again the woes and sorrows that vex and stress me and give them to You in faith, knowing that You know what to do, what to leave as it is, and what to change. I don’t need to give You any deadlines or orders. Your grace and power will flow out of Your great heart of love, guided by Your wisdom and perfect plans.

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.

My way is not God’s way

1 Samuel 15:1–35, James 3:13–18, Psalm 119:121–136

God’s grace forgives sin and removes the words “impossible to restore” from a Christian’s vocabulary. However, the sad story of Saul is a warning. It points to Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, but also points to our need for obedience.

Saul was headstrong and did not listen to God. I can be like that too, so when I read about his downfall, I am also put on guard against serving God according to my own ideas instead of doing things His way.

Saul was sent by God to totally destroy the Amalekites, but “Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.” (1 Samuel 15:9)

This immediately convicts me. It is easy enough to put to death the sins that I find disgusting and worthless. But what about the best, the promising, that which seems worthwhile? If God would let me keep those things, could I not make them profitable? But like Saul was told to destroy everything, God tells me to put all of my old ways to death. I’m not to keep any of it. If I did, I would be fooling myself, just as Saul did.

And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” (1 Samuel 15:13–15)

His response sounds like an outright lie, but I wonder if he actually believed what he told Samuel and thought he was doing the right thing? Such a foolish man. When God says no, walk away, forget it, don’t do it, He is not offering loopholes. He wants total abandonment of my will, not partial. I’m to obey Him, not try keeping some of the “not so bad” stuff.

Samuel’s words to Saul are a rebuke to any “doing the Lord’s work my way” attitude or actions. He said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22–23)

The last line is the result of Saul’s impertinence. He could have been used by God to build the kingdom, but instead opted to do things as he saw fit, not only once but persistently. He eventually died because he would not listen to or obey the Lord.

Today’s NT reading follows up what I am hearing from Saul’s story. James is talking about wisdom, something Saul did not have, and something God promises to all who ask for it (James 1:2-4). Yet these verses tell me the identifying characteristics and the importance of true wisdom. It is too easy for me to think I know what I am doing. My ideas may even appear to be wise, but God digs into motives. What lies behind my actions is more important than how they look . . .

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 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.” (James 3:13–16)

I can think of many times that my actions were rooted in jealousy and/or selfish ambition. God says this is earthly, unspiritual, even demonic. The results are chaos and evil in the kingdom, regardless of how my actions might appear on the surface. Instead, God’s wisdom is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17)

Thankfully, God does describe how things should be. He gives guidelines in how to live wisely with James’ clear description of godly wisdom.

Many years before James, the psalmist also describes the attitude that produces wise living . . .

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name. Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” (Psalm 119:130–136)

This is picky and shows how much we fall short and how much we need Jesus.

Where He leads, I must follow

Over the past few months, the Lord has led us to downsize and move to a new home, as well as change to a new church. If that were not traumatic enough, He has also directed me to finish the Master’s degree that I started almost twenty years ago. With fear and trembling, I sent my application yesterday. 

We have been questioned about the leading of God. Some nod their heads with understanding. Others have said things like, “You are just doing what you wanted to do anyway.” Whether God’s leading is understood or not, the Bible is filled with verses of His promise to do so.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. (Psalm 32:8)

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. (Psalm 25:8–9)

For me, the important thoughts in these verses are “the way you should go” and “the humble.” I need to be firmly fixed that whatever God tells me is right for me, the way that I should go, not the way that makes sense, or follows what I want, but recognizing that God knows what is best for me. 

This requires humility. If I think that I know what I should do, I am relying on myself and not on God. He has something to say about that also.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5–6)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Whether in stubborn rebellion or naïve self-trust, going my own way is the essence of sin. It may not seem like it, for sin is deceptive, but without Jesus Christ, I cannot do anything that pleases God. Further, this sinless Son of God said, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” Jesus, who had a perfect self-will, trusted the Father with all His heart. What makes me think I should do anything less?

For all of these reasons, and in each situation of making decisions, we had to examine our own hearts, especially our own “I wants” to make sure that we were not merely doing what we wanted to do. That would be contrary to the leading of God, and not complying with Scripture’s definition of following His counsel. 

I’m aware that any decision is going to have mixed motivations. I could think of many reasons for staying in our former home and many reasons for moving. Because of those conflicting rationalities, it is important to come to the same attitude as Jesus and be able to say, “It does not matter what I want, only that Your will be done” and really mean it. As a mission agency once told us, we need to “prepare to go, but be willing to stay.”

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Lord, the decisions made have given us peace, but we could not be certain peace would come until after we determined to follow Your leading. I also know that the ramifications of any decision can be contrary to our expectations. I could do well with this degree program, or find out that my brain will not work well enough at my age to finish the courses. Yet I am certain this is the direction I’m supposed to take, no matter the outcome. For that, I am grateful and praise You for leading and guiding Your people.