Lately in conversation, the declaration of God giving strength to His people has stood out to me. Often times when I share the pains of the past few years, I hear others praise the Lord that He has given me the strength to get through it. And this is true, but not in the way I would typically describe it.
You see, there are times God gives me strength and there are times He simply IS strength for me. Both display and provide strength that is not my own, but the way in which it is given has been so profoundly different in my life. I wanted to try to articulate what I mean as the consideration of what it feels like moves me to tears every time.
I’m not a strong person, but I have walked through many things that have required great strength. And it is ok. It is ok that I’m not strong because my God is. Yes, sometimes He strengthens my spaghetti arms for battle and I am able to stand up in the face of things that should otherwise crush me and know victory. This is a beautiful thing; the contrast of what I am alone and who I am in the Lord is glorious, marvelous and mysterious.
But over the last few years, I have come to see and know God’s strength in another way. Like I said, I am not a strong person; over the past few years, those looking in on me has seen my fragility, they have tiptoed around my weaknesses and vulnerabilities with much care to not crush me. Because life has weighed heavy on me; it has beaten my heart, my spirit, my soul until I have been emptied out, left clinging to what I know, afraid to even look around me.
And yet, God has given me strength. No, He has not filled my body with power for battle (or even the ability to stand sometimes); He has not stopped life’s crushing blows from bombarding me...No, He has let me remain in my weakness.
Instead, He has spread out His strength beneath me so that I have had something soft and sturdy to land upon when I have fallen; He has wrapped His strength around me so that the broken pieces of me have not been lost along this jarring road I’ve walked; His strength has laid beside me when I have been unable to lift my weary head; He has bridled His strength to patiently listened to the endless, tired cries of every pain I have felt. And though I am not strong, I have walked through these years that have required great strength.
Because God is not just strength that replaces or pushes out weakness, sometimes He is simply strength IN weakness. In both He is sufficient, in both He is merciful, in both He is kind, in both He is faithful.
So I can echo the Psalmist (18:1) with all honesty in the face of my frailty, “I love You, Lord, my Strength.” And when you praise the Lord for the strength He has provided, I hope you will marvel with me at the beauty of what the simple presence of His strength can do for the weak and weary saint.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Mediations on Colossians: The knowedge of His will
Colossians 1:9-10
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
“To be filled with the knowledge of His will.”
If I had a penny for every time I have heard someone express exasperation over their desire to know God’s will for them in a particular situation and that they find themselves unable to hear His clear direction, I would have many pennies. (For the record, I count myself among the “someones” mentioned above.) To those of us who struggle with this question and the seeming silence we find on the other side of our prayers and pleadings to the Lord in the daily situations we encounter, this place in Colossians should bring us much relief.
How do we attain the knowledge of His will? He tells us here that it requires SPIRITUAL wisdom and understanding. He also tells us clearly His will for us in a broad, yet specific, sense: (1) That we walk in a manner worthy of Him, (2) that we bear fruit in every good work and (3) that we increase in the knowledge of Him.
I truly believe that often the reason we encounter silence as we ask the Lord, “What is Your will in this situation?” comes not from His lack of desire to lead us (He’s always faithful to His promises and one of those promises is to lead), but instead from our error of seeking His will with our minds. We rationalize, we scrutinize every option, we pour over our pro/con lists...we push aside the Spirit with our over-analytical minds and paralyze ourselves. But here is the truth, it is the Spirit that reveals direction and wisdom for the directing of our lives because He has the power to bring about the understanding of the heart of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10 says that “...God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”
We may not be able to find in scripture the specific answer to what school to go to, what country to minister to, whether or not to marry a certain person...but what we do find are direction to what the will of God for us looks like: God wants our life to please Him (scripture tells us what attributes are pleasing to God), He wants us to grow in doing what is good and right (scripture tells us what the fruits of the Spirit are and how we are to love others), and He wants us to grow in the knowledge of Him (scripture tells us who He is and what He is and how He is). It is that simple. There are many choices in life that don’t have a clear “right” and “wrong,” and that’s not the point of our lives anyway...if you desire that your life reflects the will of God for you, than put Him always before you and allow your faith to stretch as you move forward in the choice you make--trusting His character, His hand and His power will be with you. Psalm 16:9 “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”
Isn’t it enough that a heart truly desires to please the Lord? God knows what we are: Psalm 103:14 “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” He knows the limitations we possess...is He really so cruel and distant as to say, “Know what I want of you, know the way you should walk, know the desires of My heart...Go!” without providing the means? No! Instead He puts His spirit in us as a helper and gives us His word as a lamp to show the path our feet should walk. His requirement of us is “Wash yourself in the blood of My Son and follow Me.” That is all. If He is big enough to purify us from our sins and restore our relationship with a holy God, surely He is big enough to cover us as we walk through the daily decisions we face...not because we know exactly what decision to make, but because He is faithful.
I think it is enough. I think it is enough to have a heart that sincerely says, “I want my life to reflect YOUR will for me, I want my life to please You, I want my steps to follow You, I want to hear Your voice. Do with me as You wish.” What more would the Lord require from imperfect dust? His grace is sufficient for our physical limitations and if His Spirit lives in us, we already possess the knowledge of His will for us.
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
“To be filled with the knowledge of His will.”
If I had a penny for every time I have heard someone express exasperation over their desire to know God’s will for them in a particular situation and that they find themselves unable to hear His clear direction, I would have many pennies. (For the record, I count myself among the “someones” mentioned above.) To those of us who struggle with this question and the seeming silence we find on the other side of our prayers and pleadings to the Lord in the daily situations we encounter, this place in Colossians should bring us much relief.
How do we attain the knowledge of His will? He tells us here that it requires SPIRITUAL wisdom and understanding. He also tells us clearly His will for us in a broad, yet specific, sense: (1) That we walk in a manner worthy of Him, (2) that we bear fruit in every good work and (3) that we increase in the knowledge of Him.
I truly believe that often the reason we encounter silence as we ask the Lord, “What is Your will in this situation?” comes not from His lack of desire to lead us (He’s always faithful to His promises and one of those promises is to lead), but instead from our error of seeking His will with our minds. We rationalize, we scrutinize every option, we pour over our pro/con lists...we push aside the Spirit with our over-analytical minds and paralyze ourselves. But here is the truth, it is the Spirit that reveals direction and wisdom for the directing of our lives because He has the power to bring about the understanding of the heart of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10 says that “...God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”
We may not be able to find in scripture the specific answer to what school to go to, what country to minister to, whether or not to marry a certain person...but what we do find are direction to what the will of God for us looks like: God wants our life to please Him (scripture tells us what attributes are pleasing to God), He wants us to grow in doing what is good and right (scripture tells us what the fruits of the Spirit are and how we are to love others), and He wants us to grow in the knowledge of Him (scripture tells us who He is and what He is and how He is). It is that simple. There are many choices in life that don’t have a clear “right” and “wrong,” and that’s not the point of our lives anyway...if you desire that your life reflects the will of God for you, than put Him always before you and allow your faith to stretch as you move forward in the choice you make--trusting His character, His hand and His power will be with you. Psalm 16:9 “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”
Isn’t it enough that a heart truly desires to please the Lord? God knows what we are: Psalm 103:14 “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” He knows the limitations we possess...is He really so cruel and distant as to say, “Know what I want of you, know the way you should walk, know the desires of My heart...Go!” without providing the means? No! Instead He puts His spirit in us as a helper and gives us His word as a lamp to show the path our feet should walk. His requirement of us is “Wash yourself in the blood of My Son and follow Me.” That is all. If He is big enough to purify us from our sins and restore our relationship with a holy God, surely He is big enough to cover us as we walk through the daily decisions we face...not because we know exactly what decision to make, but because He is faithful.
I think it is enough. I think it is enough to have a heart that sincerely says, “I want my life to reflect YOUR will for me, I want my life to please You, I want my steps to follow You, I want to hear Your voice. Do with me as You wish.” What more would the Lord require from imperfect dust? His grace is sufficient for our physical limitations and if His Spirit lives in us, we already possess the knowledge of His will for us.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Meditations on Colossians: The blood of peace
We’ve begun our study of the book of Colossians in our Life Group. I told my husband this morning, “There is some good stuff in there.” As I read through the first chapter, writing down my observations as I went, I found myself engulfed in several portions along the way. If I can gather some moments in my chaotic days, I would like to write out some of my meditations on this book.
Here is the first:
Colossians 1:19–20
“For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”
As I read, I was very struck by the phrase “making peace by the blood of His cross.”
Have you ever considered the blood of the cross? I mean really looked at it? Today I saw the blood as it ran down the cross of Christ. I saw it, red and dripping from the top of the head of my Lord where the thorns of a twisted, mocking crown pressed into his limp and hanging head; it ran down His face, matting his hair; it dripped from his hands spread out and held in place by cruelly pounded nails; it poured from his side until only water remained; it flowed down between the wooden grooves of the hewn beams until it pooled at the foot of His cross.
And as I considered this trail of blood, I considered the contrast of what it must have looked like through the eyes of satan and what this passage in Colossians tells us it looked like through the eyes of God.
To satan, the blood of the crucifixion represented a violent attempt at victory; I imagine it said, “I have killed the Messiah, now He cannot bruise my head (Genesis 3)”; it was intended to thwart the redemptive plans of God; to crush his dignity, His deity, His authority, His royalty, His power; it was beaten and torn out of the flesh of Christ to humiliate and bring about pain; it was to represent the victory of sin, death and the power of the devil...
and yet, to God, it was the blood of peace.
It was the blood of peace...the red, flowing flag of surrender. Surrender not to the enemy but to the love of the One True and Living God. To God--the Creator, the King, the Authority--this blood signaled not the victory of satan but the victory of Love as it brought about a reconciled relationship between holy God and sinful man. Because the fullness of God delighted to dwell in the body of Christ, His fullness filled every drop that left His crucified body, His fullness brought about the reconciling peace for which it fell. The very FULLNESS OF GOD ran from the first drops that flowed in Garden of Gethsemane from the brow of Jesus all the way to the place of shame up on the Hill of Golgotha, it fell upon the ground where pilot’s soldiers whipped Him until He barely resembled a man, it drained along the road beside the groove left behind by the cross He dragged, it flowed upon the ground as the nails were driven through His flesh, and dripped from His perch of shame until only water remained. Jesus the god-man was not alone as He walked the path to willingly lay His life down for the sake of sinners; He literally dripped the fullness of God every step of the way. To God, this blood was the blood of peace...it was shed to reconcile ALL things to Himself. It did represent victory, not of the destroying power of satan, but of the life-giving power of God for those who believe.
So today, I considered the blood...and the contrast of what the eyes of those observing saw when they looked upon the cross of Christ. Because no matter what satan may have intended or saw as Jesus died that day, he did not know...in those moments, satan did not know that the blood was the glory of God, it was the love of God, it was the peace of God.
I pray today that you may know this peace made by the blood of the cross of Christ; that you delight in a reconciled life with your Creator; and that you stand beneath the fullness of God as it flows through the cross.
Here is the first:
Colossians 1:19–20
“For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”
As I read, I was very struck by the phrase “making peace by the blood of His cross.”
Have you ever considered the blood of the cross? I mean really looked at it? Today I saw the blood as it ran down the cross of Christ. I saw it, red and dripping from the top of the head of my Lord where the thorns of a twisted, mocking crown pressed into his limp and hanging head; it ran down His face, matting his hair; it dripped from his hands spread out and held in place by cruelly pounded nails; it poured from his side until only water remained; it flowed down between the wooden grooves of the hewn beams until it pooled at the foot of His cross.
And as I considered this trail of blood, I considered the contrast of what it must have looked like through the eyes of satan and what this passage in Colossians tells us it looked like through the eyes of God.
To satan, the blood of the crucifixion represented a violent attempt at victory; I imagine it said, “I have killed the Messiah, now He cannot bruise my head (Genesis 3)”; it was intended to thwart the redemptive plans of God; to crush his dignity, His deity, His authority, His royalty, His power; it was beaten and torn out of the flesh of Christ to humiliate and bring about pain; it was to represent the victory of sin, death and the power of the devil...
and yet, to God, it was the blood of peace.
It was the blood of peace...the red, flowing flag of surrender. Surrender not to the enemy but to the love of the One True and Living God. To God--the Creator, the King, the Authority--this blood signaled not the victory of satan but the victory of Love as it brought about a reconciled relationship between holy God and sinful man. Because the fullness of God delighted to dwell in the body of Christ, His fullness filled every drop that left His crucified body, His fullness brought about the reconciling peace for which it fell. The very FULLNESS OF GOD ran from the first drops that flowed in Garden of Gethsemane from the brow of Jesus all the way to the place of shame up on the Hill of Golgotha, it fell upon the ground where pilot’s soldiers whipped Him until He barely resembled a man, it drained along the road beside the groove left behind by the cross He dragged, it flowed upon the ground as the nails were driven through His flesh, and dripped from His perch of shame until only water remained. Jesus the god-man was not alone as He walked the path to willingly lay His life down for the sake of sinners; He literally dripped the fullness of God every step of the way. To God, this blood was the blood of peace...it was shed to reconcile ALL things to Himself. It did represent victory, not of the destroying power of satan, but of the life-giving power of God for those who believe.
So today, I considered the blood...and the contrast of what the eyes of those observing saw when they looked upon the cross of Christ. Because no matter what satan may have intended or saw as Jesus died that day, he did not know...in those moments, satan did not know that the blood was the glory of God, it was the love of God, it was the peace of God.
I pray today that you may know this peace made by the blood of the cross of Christ; that you delight in a reconciled life with your Creator; and that you stand beneath the fullness of God as it flows through the cross.
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