The Great Life
12/14/14
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled… —John 14:27
Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve two masters, ourselves and God, there will be difficulties combined with doubt and confusion. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.
God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, “as the world gives,” but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. If you are acting on your own impulse, or out of a sense of the heroic, to be seen by others, the peace of Jesus will not exhibit itself. This shows no unity with God or confidence in Him. The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.
My questions arise whenever I cease to obey. When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems.
~ Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest
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| Oswald Chambers (1874-1912) |
Blaming God is like blaming nature or blaming science or, frankly, blaming yourself for what is theirs. That is to say, "pointless."
ReplyDeleteJMJ
Yes, Jersey, it is -- and what's worse it's SELF-DEFEATING too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you take time to read Christmas at Dingley Dell -- Chapter 28 of the Pickwick Papers.
It doesn't preach, doesn't attempt to "teach," never even mentions Jesus Christ, and yet it evokes the warmth and joy experienced by people of good will from all different levels of society when they se aside their differences and get together to celebrate a Great Occasion wholeheartedly.
To put it in a religious context -- which Dickens takes pains to avoid -- the picture Dickens paints is closer to Christ's best hopes for us, God's children, than any solemn recitation of purse-lipped pious platitudes and "Scripture Squirting" could do.
The God you don't want to believe in really does work in odd, mysterious -- often oblique -- ways His wonders to perform.