The decision to walk with God, disavowing any path except that of His will, is a choice of high and ancient wisdom, one that can be made even by the most lowly. Indeed, it seems to be the lowly, more often than the mighty, who recognize this wisdom.
We should be encouraged by the fact that God is gracious to those who take Him seriously. If we are willing to relate ourselves rightly to God, we need not doubt that a right relationship is what He gave His Son to make possible for us.
Oswald Chambers said, “Believe God is always the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him.” When darkness sets in and doubt makes its expected assault, we must not throw away the confidence that has been granted to us in the sunlight.
Given the death-dealing realities around us, it is hazardous to have a mind that is less than sober, girded for clear thinking and decisive action. But although the difficulties are real, they are not all that is real. May we not lose our bearings.
When the vigor of our religious impulse is powered by truth about God, something happens that is very fine. We can soar high enough to begin tasting the freedom that Jesus spoke of: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
If our reverence for God is real, we’ll show that reverence by yielding to His will, whether what happens next seems to be joyful or not. When faced with choices between good, better, and best, sincere seekers make these choices by deferring to God.
It is more blessed to give than to receive. Even with God, we should derive more joy from giving than from getting. And it should not merely be because that is the way to “get” more blessedness. God was not created for us; we were created for Him.
The gospel means little to so many because so few have passed through any dark night of the soul that would enable them to appreciate the light. Never having desperately desired deliverance, they have no depth of gratitude for forgiveness
Difficulty tests us. In times of ease, we think we know ourselves and we say what we believe in words that sound right to our own ears, but only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.
We don’t have the spiritual vision to see any more than the smallest fraction of God’s power; so we see very little of what could be ours if we truly sought Him. For the benefit of our praying, the “eyes” of our understanding need to be enlightened.
