As
promised, “Why do we fail to ask of God?”
I
think it’s because we always have something better to do. At least, that’s what our human nature
will always tell us. And we will
always have our human nature, this side of resurrection!
Bummer! It’s harsh, but eye-opening, to realize
that our own nature will never, ever, no, not ever, recommend that we
stop what we’re doing and bring our souls and our lives before God. That
all-too-familiar nature doesn’t advertise this, especially because we don’t
want it to be noticed, but it actually ... doesn't like to be with God - at all! “The flesh is at enmity with the Spirit.” Enmity. Such a severe word. The flesh is, before God, like a caged
beast.
The
hidden, JOYOUS, magnificence here is caught inside the last paragraph. We don’t want anyone to see, least of
all ourselves, how strenuously we withstand God, because we LOVE HIM! If we didn't, we wouldn't care! He said, Jesus told us, that we
would receive life and truth when He went to the Father, and we did, and now we
love Him cravingly. We are new
creatures, just as He says! We
know we’re new, because we’re trying to escape what’s old, even if we almost never
seem to manage it.
But
thanks be to God!, as the Apostle Paul said. That old hateful nature does hate and resist, but we do love God. Just like Paul said, there is no
more condemnation for us! We hate
the nature that runs from God, that avoids Him and doesn’t talk to Him or seek
His face or enjoy His nearness, the nature that snarls and turns away from His
every kindness. We do still feed
that nature sometimes, but we don’t like it. I think we feed it because it is always howling and hungry, and because sometimes we've not brought our hearts to mercy and gentleness and majesty and love long enough to be comfortable there.
Now
then, how to starve the beast! How about
. . . make plans accordingly! Make
plans today, to worship and pray all day, not for thirty minutes or an hour, but all
day today. Isn't that wonderfully impractical, and absolutely sensible! Don't be afraid - read on!
Time
with husbands and children doesn’t count.
If a friend stops by, we are welcoming and we give them our attention. Important meeting? Be there, but keeping in mind that to remain prayerful always is
the goal, and for today, all mindlessly wasted time, down-time, self-absorbing
time, “I need this time” time – every minute of it, spent on the Lord, like
Scrooge on Christmas morning.
Don’t
be afraid! It’s really liberating
to have only one thing to do with the time on one’s hands! Meals still need to be prepared, dishes
and laundry still need to be
washed, and go ahead and make the beds, of course! Go to work, and worship as you go – that’s the one thing that must get done
today! When you find yourself standing around, feeling lost and un-entertained, when you would head for the telly or telephone, start praying for someone you love. When your steps take you, like in the Night of the Living Dead, to check your email for the third of fourth time (in an hour!) make a u-turn and pick up your Bible, instead, or imagine yourself a professional monastic at work. (At home, try kneeling! It's a great way to stop our feet from taking us back to our old habits.) For today, time with God is the only thing that must be done, except for loving those around us and meeting our real responsibilities toward them. A thousand interruptions are of no consequence, and that beast that will start foaming at the mouth and howling as if it would chew you to shreds . . . God has staked its chain at His feet.
We might find that the Nearness of God
does not conflict with story telling, bread baking, love making, and even record-breaking on the job! If you end
up spending only ten minutes in prayer, or only one minute in silence before
Him, be thankful as if you’d won the lottery. Be the widow with the two mites . . . just give
what you have!
It’s
good to be Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning, all year through, rejoicing to know that the chains we've forged in life, bind us no more!
Marley's Ghost
John Leech, 1843
public domain
My dearest Aunt Kerry ..... This writing could not have come at a more perfect time for me. I have been struggling with my relationship with our Lord. I have been so busy over taxing myself with things at our church (whether they were because I was personaly interested or spiritualy moved to do it , or just somehow felt obligated) I have become totally burned out ... Which progressed into resentfullness. And just the guilt of becoming resentful has filled me up with so many mixed emotions. Yet , I have remained silent. Not expressing my feelings to any of my brothers and sisters afraid of letting my church family down by saying " I will not be as involved with all church activities as I had been" and in wanting to say that I feel myself also start to turn away from our Lord out of shamefullness. I KNOW in all my heart that seeking him, loving him, praising ,worshiping and having him love me has nothing to do with whether I go to that board meeting , help with Union Station or Family Promise. Those things do not matter if I do them just out of obligation instead of with a christian heart. He wants me to take refuge in him so that I can restore myself so that I can go out and do all those things in His holy name.
ReplyDelete~ Kimberly
This is a lovely comment, and I so appreciate your frankness.
ReplyDeleteI can truthfully say that I understand, because I lived like that for years. I loved what I did, and I was always doing something, but there is something about keeping a tryst with God that is beyond any human delight It grows in wonder.
When I first decided to spend my evenings with the Lord, when Uncle Frank first died, three nights in a row I could barely contain the joy . . . the laughter! . . . the kind nearness of God.
Even so, things crowd in, but I don't let them take over anymore. I started this practice when Frank was alive . . . I didn't take time away from him at all, but I made time for God when I could. I could tell you stories! But everything starts to change. Besides, the Lord is just WORTH IT!