Tough questions - deep thoughts. 100513

John Owen wrote in his work, On Being spirituall Minded;

Can the majority of Christians honestly say that they think of such things {{hardship, calamity and disaster}} in such a way that leads them trust themswlves nd ll they love and have to God?  Can they say they so meditate on God's providential calls and warnings as to make themselves ready to part with anything and everything at God's time and pleasure"  How can such people pretend to be spiritually minded when all their thoughts resisit the idea of trusting everything to his will and pleasure?

I want to answer "Yes," to the first two questions but I am deeply confronted by a hesitation, a cold chill that goes to the bone.  I am hindered by pride and fear.  Perhaps the greatest fear is of man and what man might say of me if God were to call for it all.

It is common to see those who, even by God's providence, lose it all as failures, objects of scorn and pity.  It is common to withdraw from those in such distress as we look for their failures that have brought about their circumstances.  It is easier to leave them alone than to draw near.   It is easier to look for some blame to lay at their feet than to contemplate as an act of God's providence, a part of His plan.

I think many of us would rather suffer some disease and hence be empoverished than to have the hand of God sweep everythiing away.  Then we would have a reason, a cause for it and still be able to hold up our heads and look people in the eye.

To trust everrything to His will and pleasure is what He means by calling ut to be alive to Him and dead to ourselves and the world.  To trust everything to Him - or at the very least to struggle to do so is the fundamental condition in which we are called to live.  It is dieing to self - and to the good graces and acceptance of other people.

When we pray, "Thy will be done." do we realize what we are asking, what we are saying, what He might do?  I don't think we do.  I know that I have grown to be chilled when I pray that.

But it is my rebellious and tainted heart that is chilled.  It is the remnant of sin - that principle of evil yet dwelling in me that makes me struggle to simply surrender.  So I find myself in a fight with God and a struggle to maintain my sanity.  The assurances that "Everything will be OK," does little moer than drive my thoughts to death and the assurances I have of eternal lie with Him.  This is not a bad thing but it should not be the first thing.

When God acts in our lives whether we sense it to be good or bad, sour or sweet, it is for His glory and honor.  Are we willing to see Him glorified in our lives in a painful and uncomfortable manner?  Are we willing to suffer and have man-imposed shame torment our heads and hearts?

I want to and I don't want to.  I say "Yes!  BUT....."

And I ask Him to forgive me.

Psalm 25:16-18 not done

Psalm 25:16-18 ESV
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. [17] The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. [18] Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.

In another post I mentioned a work by Christopher Love. The title is, A Christian's Directory.  It is indeed well worth reading.  He deals, at one point, with our struggles - sorrow concerning "worldly crosses," vs "our sin."  He writes:

"If you mourn for sin, the true joy that arises from the forgiveness of sin, will swallow up the grief that comes to you through any worldly cross of affliction."

Do we find that to be true?  I think that's part of the point of Psalm 25:16-18.  Our worldly crosses really can take our eyes off His mercy and grace which in turn diminishes our comfort and confidence in Him.

We are not prohibited in any way from sorrowing for our worldly crosses but we have to keep all things in perspective.  When we suffer "crosses" in our lives it is all too easy to forget the "cross" we will never ever have to bear.  This is very unhealthy for the believer.

I think we have gotten confused about "here."  We have forgotten that it is not our home.  We have forgotten that it is judged for destruction.  We strive to be "at home" in a place we are just visiting - though we are visiting with a purpose.

Even in this Psalm we can see how our minds can focus on the "crosses" to the detriment of our mortifying our sin.  We are forgiven - though we still sin.  It is our sin and its forgiveness we need to work on keeping before our eyes.

The Puritans can be tough to read.  They had great senses of humor but when it came to sin and salvation it seems to disappear (as well it should). They found themselves going to prison, to the chopping block, to the pyre.  They found themselves homeless, destitute, hungry, oppressed, persecuted ---- etc. etc. etc ---

But they also knew they were going to heaven - they knew they were saved and they fought anything, feeling or thought, that turned their minds and hearts away from those facts.   It's is not easy to hurt now and hope for heaven then.  Sometimes it hurts so bad now that we beg for heaven now.

We read in the Word about hero's.  Well folks - there is only one hero in the Word and that's God.  Every marvelous and miraculous deliverance, release, rescue, etc. were God's doing NOT Abraham's or Moses' or David's or Paul's --- but God's.  These men and women we elevate to the status of heroes were just men and women like you and I who learned to trust in God and were used by Him through His power and provision to be there when He worked His wonders and displayed His glory.

We've got to quit looking for and/or trying to be heroes.  We need to be humble and meek and faithful servants of the only hero (which is a pretty poor term for Him).

Let us be sad in our affliction but rejoice in our salvation - It's not always easy and it sometimes feels fake - but it is what we need to be doing.

Father, teach me, gently, to look to You alone for my needs and to acknowledge You alone for all my blessings.  Teach me from your Word how to do this humbly, regularly and wisely.

Amen