Walking with God
I feel like the longer I walk with the Lord, the less I know about what He is up to and how He is working. It's far too easy for me to walk confidently as if I know exactly what He is up to...and then life hits and I often stagger wondering what is happening. But the gold that these trials produce is less confidence in me and more confidence in Him. And that is indeed golden. I know the unchangeable truths of who He is as revealed in Scripture, but the reality is my God is so far above me that I simply don't know much of the intricate tapestry He is weaving in my life. I know He is faithful. I know He is good. I know his love is limitless and vast. But why a difficulty is pressing in harder and harder? Don't know. Why some prayers go unanswered? I'm not sure why. This is a priceless gift. Learning slowly to value Him more than my idea of how He should work. He is God. This silences me.
I am reading Elisabeth Elliot's book "The Path of Loneliness." The title alone gives me chills. A book on loneliness? Seems sad. But it's not. It's pages are filled with timely words and soul-strengthening conviction. She talks about the gift of loneliness and how it not only works so much spiritual good in our hearts as we are pressed towards Christ, but it also is a gift for those around us. Sharing our hospitality. Beneficiaries of our care and consolation. It's so easy for me to look at my situation at times and think only about me. How it affects me, etc. But God is using us - our current station in life, the joys, the heartaches, all of it - to affect those around us. Oh it's about so much more than me and my comfort. Elliot says "If God had eliminated the problem, He would have eliminated the particular kind of blessing which it bears."
I can forget that there is blessing for those I am knit together with, in the mist of the challenges. That friend who is walking through health challenges? We are all being changed by her faith towards God. The friend who lost her husband? Her clinging to Christ through tears is radically challenging our own devotion to our Savior. My fight for contentment as a single longing for a family? If surrendered to the Lord, that fight for contentment not only bears fruit in my life but it also can sharpen my brothers and sisters in their fights for joy in Jesus alone.
We live this life together. We walk the road to glory together. Trying to make sense of what God is doing and trusting Him in the unknown places, treasuring Him. The longer we know the Lord, the less we trust our own assessment of what He is up to and the more we rest in who He is. A God who acts for his children. Faithful. Good.
I am reading Elisabeth Elliot's book "The Path of Loneliness." The title alone gives me chills. A book on loneliness? Seems sad. But it's not. It's pages are filled with timely words and soul-strengthening conviction. She talks about the gift of loneliness and how it not only works so much spiritual good in our hearts as we are pressed towards Christ, but it also is a gift for those around us. Sharing our hospitality. Beneficiaries of our care and consolation. It's so easy for me to look at my situation at times and think only about me. How it affects me, etc. But God is using us - our current station in life, the joys, the heartaches, all of it - to affect those around us. Oh it's about so much more than me and my comfort. Elliot says "If God had eliminated the problem, He would have eliminated the particular kind of blessing which it bears."
I can forget that there is blessing for those I am knit together with, in the mist of the challenges. That friend who is walking through health challenges? We are all being changed by her faith towards God. The friend who lost her husband? Her clinging to Christ through tears is radically challenging our own devotion to our Savior. My fight for contentment as a single longing for a family? If surrendered to the Lord, that fight for contentment not only bears fruit in my life but it also can sharpen my brothers and sisters in their fights for joy in Jesus alone.
We live this life together. We walk the road to glory together. Trying to make sense of what God is doing and trusting Him in the unknown places, treasuring Him. The longer we know the Lord, the less we trust our own assessment of what He is up to and the more we rest in who He is. A God who acts for his children. Faithful. Good.
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