Let us not despise the purity that can come out of grief. When our hearts hurt so badly that words fail us as we try to speak to God, let us not be afraid simply to shed our tears, if they will come, and to let our groanings be a sufficient prayer.
It is unthinkable that we would approach God with anything less than a humble, contrite spirit. If we have any idea of how serious our sins really are, we will make every effort to show respect to the King against whom we have so foolishly rebelled.
When we try to conform externally to some of God’s will without giving Him our whole hearts, the attempt is frustrating. Halfway measures involve far more grief than wholehearted efforts. The joy of commitment can’t be enjoyed by the uncommitted.
Seeking God can never be a merely intellectual pursuit. Having thoughtfully read what God reveals of Himself in the Scriptures, we then have to take those truths and investigate them in our most practical relationships, such as our home and family.
It is reasonable to want to understand the world, and it does take a certain amount of information to do that. But if we’re not careful, we’ll be drowned in a sea of useless “news.” We need to learn about what is old as well as what is new.
Most of our lives would profit from some serious simplification. We are over-committed and strung out. We try to do more than one person can do effectively. And the result ought to alarm us: we are at a disadvantage when it comes to the devil.
We preach the Prince of Peace, and it’s right that we emphasize the peace He wants to give us. But this Prince brought a sword (Matthew 10:34), and this sword must sever us from our self-righteous selves — a most disturbing thing indeed.
When the whole truth comes out, as it surely will eventually, are we absolutely sure that it will show us to be in the right? Self-honesty is not an easy thing for most of us, and it may turn out that we were the ones hiding from the truth.
The glory ahead will be out of all proportion to the often dull and unexciting affliction that will have produced it. We should not underestimate ourselves. The humdrum appearance of our lives often conceals the fact that something great is going on.
When we pillow our heads at night, we need to have things that give us peace. Many such things are available, but one of the best is the simple peace of knowing that we’ve done things that day that were not easy for us to do.