Pressing On In His Footsteps

Romans 8:22-30 PHILLIPS  It is plain to anyone with eyes to see that at the present time all created life groans in a sort of universal travail. And it is plain, too, that we who have a foretaste of the Spirit are in a state of painful tension, while we wait for that redemption of our bodies which will mean that at last we have realised our full sonship in him. We were saved by this hope, but in our moments of impatience let us remember that hope always means waiting for something that we haven’t yet got. But if we hope for something we cannot see, then we must settle down to wait for it in patience. The Spirit of God not only maintains this hope within us, but helps us in our present limitations. For example, we do not know how to pray worthily as sons of God, but his Spirit within us is actually praying for us in those agonising longings which never find words. And God who knows the heart’s secrets understands, of course, the Spirit’s intention as he prays for those who love God. Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good. God, in his foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of his Son, that he might be the eldest of a family of many brothers. He chose them long ago; when the time came he called them, he made them righteous in his sight, and then lifted them to the splendour of life as his own sons.

Observation

Romans 8 is a chapter about step by step letting go of our past, moment by moment embracing all that being “in Christ” provides for us, and day by day putting our hope and faith in the future God has planned for us all (“in our moments of impatience let us remember that hope always means waiting for something that we haven’t yet got”).  Paul encourages us to be patient in our “state of painful tension” – that is, in our impatience, anguish and urgency to see the results we want or perceive the progress we have determined to be productive in ourselves and others. He tells us that, albeit most of the time imperceptibly to us, the Holy Spirit is working God’s love, grace and truth in us and the world around us 24/7/365.  He is doing this in powerful, life-changing ways invisible to us in other hearts and other places inaccessible to us. He asks us to trust in God’s original and only plan – even when we don’t understand how “everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.” 

This is all fine and good when life is going smoothly, but becomes so difficult when we face urgent and heartbreaking circumstances that shake us to our foundation – prodigal children, chronic or fatal illness, death, divorce, and so on. How could God turn such events to bring about good, to accomplish His original and only plan?  How can He give us beauty for ashes and joy for mourning?  How can we calm ourselves to hear the Holy Spirit when the circumstances send our emotions into chaos?  It is turning to God, calling on Him in these times that proves “his Spirit within us is actually praying for us in those agonising longings which never find words. And God who knows the heart’s secrets understands, of course, the Spirit’s intention as he prays for those who love God.”  In these times we find our true hope rests securely only in God!

Impact on Me

 Paul experienced persecutions, including imprisonment, shipwreck and beatings. When I look back over my life, I can see times of spiritual and emotional “imprisonment, shipwreck and beatings” where the scars are not visible but just as painful and wounding.  So have you. Relationship breakup or divorce, mental or physical illness, mistreatment or abuse, rejection, abandonment, or betrayal, death of loved ones, prodigal children, church issues – to name just a few – all create wounds that make us hypersensitive and wary of reliving the pain caused and condition our reactions to the world, situations and circumstances around us.  Paul is asking us to let Jesus heal the wounds of the past so we can respond according to hope and faith rather than react according to the wounds we carry (our flesh).  He is asking us to be defined by God’s future for us rather than our past experiences, the fear created by our wounds, or what this world can offer.

In Christ my past no longer can hurt or limit me – if I allow myself to release the guilt, shame and sensitivities of my life before salvation began its work in me. In Christ, I can freely forgive because I have been freely forgiven. In Christ, I am His beloved regardless of how the world judges my worth. In Christ, I can rejoice and trust always even when the world calls me foolish. It is my choice to live as who I am in Christ or as a child of the world.

 “In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my life, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled and striving cease. My Comforter, my all-in-all; here in the love of Christ I’ll stand.”

Devotion

 My God, my God, You are all-in-all – Holy, loving, knowing, powerful, eternal, Creator, Redeemer, Restorer.  You have planned from beginning to end, start to finish, a perfect, eternal, majestic strategy to accomplish Your will and purpose. So much of the time I do not understand what is happening or how it can ever be turned around for good BUT I know You do. Forgive me for all the times I have failed and chosen to live as in the world rather than in Christ. Help me to set aside my need to understand or do something to fix it and instead pray, placing my hope and trust in You.  In those times, cause me to remember and rest in “to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.”  Help me to embrace, believe and live as Your child in Christ as I walk through my life on this earth.  I know it is Your desire to see this accomplished in me. Make it so, Lord, in Jesus’ name I pray.

Acts 28:20 (Phillips)  “But it is because of this accusation of the Jews that I have asked to see you and talk matters over with you. In actual fact it is on account of the hope of Israel that I am here in chains. … (23-24) When they had arranged a day for him they came to his lodging in great numbers.  From morning till evening he explained the kingdom of God to them, giving his personal testimony, trying to persuade them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. As a result several of them were won over by his words, but others would not believe.”

2 Tim 4:1-2 (Phillips) “I urge you, Timothy, as we live in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus (whose coming in power will judge the living and the dead), to preach the Word of God. Never lose your sense of urgency, in season or out of season. Prove, correct, and encourage, using the utmost patience in your teaching.”

Observation

Paul was single-minded in achieving what God gave him to do – never distracted by circumstances, situations or events from staying the course to fulfill his God-given purpose, his mission, his calling – always willing to be a sacrifice (“here in chains”) if that was required to obey God’s call.  When an angel of God told him that he was going to Rome, nothing that happened subsequently could make him doubt that he would arrive safely in Rome in God’s perfect timing.  Storm, shipwreck, threats of death and poisonous snakebite were all just events to endure along the way.  I don’t hear him fretting about the delay. 

No matter where or in what circumstances he found himself, he was instant in season and out along the way – always ready to use every opportunity to demonstrate God’s power and preach the Gospel; he believed AND practiced what he preached (2 Tim 4).  He did not “lose his sense of urgency” in whatever circumstance or place in which he found himself.  He shared the Gospel on the sea and on the shore, during the storm and during the calm, seizing the opportunities presented by a snakebite and a healing to open the ears and hearts of a fresh audience, – always keeping his eyes on the calling to which he was called – always content to let the return on his investment, the cost to him, and the price he paid be measured by God – ever confident in God’s ability to fulfill His will and purpose in His perfect time.  Reminds me of Jesus…

Impact on Me

I do get distracted by circumstances, situations and events.  It is especially hard for me to wait for God’s perfect timing, to remember that He will get me where I need to be, equipped as I need to be, when I need to be there to fulfill His will, purpose and calling on my life.  I want to suddenly transport to that final destination – get busy, get on with it!!! – rather than trust in the wisdom and timing of His plan for me.  Like a truculent child, I am sure that I am ready NOW and should have what I want NOW.  I need to be more like Paul, more like Jesus – trusting without question in God’s perfect plan, perfect timing, perfect preparation plan and training, perfect execution. 

No matter where or in what circumstances I find myself, I need to look for opportunities to: train for and practice my calling, grow in faith, release the Holy Spirit’s anointing, give God control of my location, situation, circumstances.  In other words, be fully submitted to God and His will, purpose, and plan for me.  I need to be more like Paul, more like Jesus – watching for ways to be used along the road as a means of preparation for the ultimate fulfillment of my calling, rather than focusing so much on the end of the journey (my vision of fulfillment of God’s call on my life) that I ignore the opportunities along the way to demonstrate the love, grace, redemption, righteousness, peace and joy which I have in Christ. 

Devotion

Lord God, Loving Father, Perfect Teacher, You are holy and gracious to extend grace so many times.  Again, I find myself at the Cross, confessing my failures, my pride, my selfishness that causes me to want my own way rather than Yours, grateful for forgiveness but sorrowful that I come looking for the same forgiveness AGAIN. Lord, I pray that I will fully embrace Your Cross, always be aware of Your Blood staining me, and the price You paid for me to be reconciled and redeemed, so that I will be grateful and aware enough to make better choices to be more like You, content and ever watchful as I follow the pathway Father God has planned for me.

2 Kings 7:3-7 NIV Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

2 Kings 7:3-7 MSG. It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose. 

So after the sun went down they got up and went to the camp of Aram. When they got to the edge of the camp, surprise! Not a man in the camp! The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, “The king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!” Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeys—the whole camp just as it was—running for dear life.

Observation

This is one of my favorite stories in the entire Bible!  It ranks right up there with other miracles like the parting of the Red Sea, the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, David and Goliath and Balaam’s talking donkey, but, additionally, this one speaks to me personally. We enter into this story as Ben-Hadad, king of Aram (Syria), has surrounded and besieged the city of Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, for an extended length of time. The situation inside the city is desperate and the food shortage so great that the people have resorted to cannibalism.  The king of Israel (Joram, son of Ahab and Jezebel) bemoans his fate and blames God and His prophet Elisha. He sends men to murder Elisha, saying, “This trouble is directly from God! And what’s next? I’m fed up with God!” (2 Kings 6:33 MSG). Elisha makes the “impossible” prediction that by tomorrow, at the same time of day, the siege will be ended, the city will be saved and food will be plentiful.  Needless to say, they don’t believe him!

Enter our four starving lepers. Leprosy is a progressive, degenerative disease that presents with white patches on the skin but also impacts the nervous system and, untreated, results in the loss of body parts (fingers, toes, skin, feet and so on). While “leprosy” is used to cover a multitude of skin diseases in the Bible, these four are isolated from the general population and probably ranked among the incurable, soon-to-be-dead.  At the best of time, lepers were outcasts and valueless to this society, the lowest of the low.  When they say, “Why stay here until we die?”, they recognize that they face death no matter what choice they make – stay put, go into the city, or surrender to the enemy. 

So, here is the picture I see. These four sick, starving, scrawny, ragged men struggle to their feet, take up their crutches, and painstakingly hobble and stumble as they make their way in the gathering dusk toward the enemy camp in the hope of getting one last meal before they die (“If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.”).   Now, the miracle!  While I am sure their stumbling, staggering, shuffling progress was noisy, God struck fear in the hearts of the Aramean army by multiplying and magnifying these small noises into the sound of two fierce armies (Hittite and Egyptian) coming to attack them!  In a panic, the entire Aramean army “fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.”  Only God could do such a thing!

Impact on Me

So, why is this story so special to me?  Why does it impact me every time I return to 2 Kings 7 as powerfully as it does?  Here are four people with no qualifications, skills, authority, influence, training, strength – really nothing to offer, considered valueless and discarded – who, in God’s hands were used to save an entire city.  Their vision was very small, very limited, but hope got them up and moving to accomplish it.  Whenever I am tempted to give up or pass on an opportunity for God to use me, I am reminded of these four. It is not my qualifications, skills, authority, influence, training or strength that God needs to accomplish His will and purpose. If He can save a city with these four, He can take my hope, my obedience birthed in my experience of faith, knowing I can trust Him to go with me.  This give me confidence that He can magnify my small effort to make the enemy flee in terror.  I need to step out of my possibility box and into His infinite possibilities.

Devotion

Lord, You are the Almighty, Holy, All-Powerful, only True God. I ask that You make me an instrument in the Redeemer’s hand, so that my small hope, faith, and obedience can be magnified by You into salvation, redemption, restoration for many and glory for You. Remind me that You will effectively use whatever I bring to the table, but You need nothing more than my conscious decision to be willing and obedient in order for You to accomplish Your will and purpose. I pray this all in the name of Jesus.

Judges 6:7-13 (NLT)  When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, ⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. ⁹ I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. ¹⁰ I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

¹¹ Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. ¹² The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

¹³ “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

Observation

Well, things have gotten desperate again, so the people are crying out to the only God Who ever replies or demonstrates His power or proves Himself faithful. The other gods in the land remain silent, despite the number and cost of the sacrifices offered. This God Who Replies has rules set in stone, holds higher standards for behavior, requires honest and fair dealings with strangers and friends alike, expects care. mercy and grace to be extended to less fortunate others and is inordinately strict about obedience.  Much easier on a daily basis to worship a god or goddess who sanctions easy and flexible rules that suit culture and the feelings and desires of the moment.    Even Gideon’s father had an altar of expedience. BUT still, when things get tough, out-of-control, desperate, there is only One God Who will do – the God Who Replies.  So, the people presume upon His mercy, His grace, His love, and cry out for rescue again – “We are Your people!  Why have you abandoned us?” – accusing Him of leaving them unprotected even though they are the ones who abandoned Him.

Impact on Me

It is easy for me to read this story and say that I would never do such a thing! I have not erected altars of expedience to my culture!! But is this so?  Am I so different than this hard of hearing, forgetful people who turn wholly to God only when they desperately need the God Who Replies?  Do I go on a daily and consistent basis to worship at the altar of the One True God, or have I allowed myself to construct altars of expedience to worship culture, relaxed rules, my feelings and desires?  Have I become so comfortable with any internal pagan altars that I don’t even recognize them as such anymore?  Do I worship at the altar of the One True God when all is well and at the pagan altar of my fears when all is not?  Do I examine myself for how I have been faithless and abandoned God rather than accusing Him of faithlessness and abandonment when things get tough?  Do I invite the Holy Spirit to search me and find my hidden altars of expedience so that I can choose to tear them down?   I need to stop and consider all these questions.

Devotion

Lord God, the One Who is True, the One Who Replies, I reserve all my worship for You.  Examine me and expose any altar of expedience I have allowed to be constructed by me so I may destroy it utterly.   Tune my ears to hear, my heart to understand so I might obey Your Words, Your instructions, Your guidance. May I have but one altar of worship that is wholly dedicated to You.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.