When God Brings Us Low (An Exhortation)
Sept 16, 2018 16:26:00 GMT -5
John, frienduff, and 4 more like this
Post by tlsitd on Sept 16, 2018 16:26:00 GMT -5
When God brings a Christian low, whether by some conviction or failure, or some trial that brings out his or her worst, if that man or woman truly loves God, it is only ever to ultimately improve him or her, rather than to destroy him or her.
In other words, when He brings us low, in some way that humbles us---that shatters our perception of ourselves and the quality of our faith---when what we believed was strong is proven to be weaker than we thought it was, when our confident understanding of something is shown to be flawed in some way, when we've been focused on perfecting one thing and God shows us that we've been overlooking and lagging behind in something else, when He gives us fresh eyes to see things in His word that we didn't see before and we realize that we were missing the forest for the trees in a particular matter---when these things happen, and we feel as though we have utterly failed Him as saints and that all of our work is rotten and we might as well quit and die, it isn't because God hates us, but because He loves us. It is not to destroy the good, but to correct and improve what needs to be corrected and improved---whether it be something in our understanding, or in our conduct, or in our attitude.
I believe that probably many great sermons have come out of experiences like these, which I am sure happen to all Christians who are devoted to the pursuit of their sanctification. Those moments of darkness and personal despair, when God shines light on something we were previously ignorant of, and our righteousness suddenly appears as filthy rags, and all of our work up to that point seems to have been in vain---for we have failed the Lord, and are not as accomplished spiritually as we thought that we were---are actually a blessing, though they seem, for a bleak moment, to be a curse---when God shines the white light of Divine insight into our gloom.
God is intently invested in His work of sanctification in each one of His saints, and the expert in His work, much more than any of us are or can be, because our judgments of ourselves are not perfect as His are, that we can refine ourselves in the way we need to be, though we probably all fancy ourselves competent judges of ourselves; and we may be sometimes---but God is always the one who knows perfectly. And sometimes He "blindsides" us with truth---to humble us, and to keep us humble, and to remind us that we're still in process with the rest of the saints.
Even though it may feel good to us, it is really a tragedy for any Christian to believe that he or she has arrived at perfection in the knowledge or practice of God's truth, and cannot learn from anyone else or be improved in understanding or character by the understanding and example of others. There is no anointed Christian whom God has appointed to be the perfecter of the saints, who has everything and needs nothing, who only has things to give others but never anything to receive from them. Not that we aren't all at different levels of understanding and spiritual maturity, but no one has everything; and the one who believes that he or she has, is undoubtedly coming short in some way he or she doesn't realize yet. But hopefully, God will open his or her eyes for his or her benefit in time; and if the person truly loves Him, He will. (He has His methods.)
Sometimes God rewards good work with what seems to be evil. But in reality, He works in all things for the good of those who really do love Him, to perfect them, and is only doing it for that reason---not to destroy what is good, but to improve what is weak or lacking. Without that correction, none of us would improve in the way God knows we need to. When God does this, it is because He desires to improve us by showing us our faults and our weaknesses, to encourage us to work with Him to make those things better, not to discourage us in our sanctification and our faith---as though nothing we've done up to then counts for anything, or as though we are complete failures as Christians.
No Christian is perfect in understanding or in character, but we probably all think we're better than we really are on some level; it's inevitable as human beings who do not have God's perfect knowledge. A reality check from God is necessary from time to time, and actually a blessing.
Once we have mourned over the shattering of our confidence in ourselves a while, He lifts us up by showing us that it was only to bring our attention to something that He wants us to improve in. It could be love, or humility, or self-control, or gentleness, or trust in Him. But however He reveals to us whatever flaw or shortcoming or error He reveals, it's revealed with good intentions, though it may grieve us for ourselves for a time. (And I believe that some of that mourning is really pride----mourning over not being as good as we thought we were or wanted to be.)
But from deep lows, God raises us up to greater heights. And then He brings us down again to do the same. That's the refining process of sanctification; and may it never cease for any of us so long as we are in the body, because we believe we have nothing more to learn or to improve in. (God won't stop doing this with us---but pride or stubbornness on our part can potentially inhibit His work.)
I write this as an exhortation to you, beloved of God, not from the summit of the mountain to those down below, but as a fellow climber. I hope you will take it to heart for yourselves as I do for myself. Even if you know this, it's good to be reminded.
This is not encouragement to be lax in your sanctification because no one is perfect, but to remind you that you are a work in progress, and not above correction or improvement. Perhaps you have more understanding in one thing than another does, or are stronger in a particular area than another is---and that is good---but you're not perfect, and someone else may have more understanding about something that you do not understand as well as you think you do, or be stronger in a certain area than you are; and God is working on you just as He is working on them.
So as we interact here, I encourage us all to remember this, and to be humble in our judgment of ourselves, knowing that it isn't perfect, and to focus not only on improving others by what we may have, but also on being improved by others by what they may have. If others need improvement in some way, in their understanding or their attitude or their behavior, we do also.
May the Lord bless you.
In other words, when He brings us low, in some way that humbles us---that shatters our perception of ourselves and the quality of our faith---when what we believed was strong is proven to be weaker than we thought it was, when our confident understanding of something is shown to be flawed in some way, when we've been focused on perfecting one thing and God shows us that we've been overlooking and lagging behind in something else, when He gives us fresh eyes to see things in His word that we didn't see before and we realize that we were missing the forest for the trees in a particular matter---when these things happen, and we feel as though we have utterly failed Him as saints and that all of our work is rotten and we might as well quit and die, it isn't because God hates us, but because He loves us. It is not to destroy the good, but to correct and improve what needs to be corrected and improved---whether it be something in our understanding, or in our conduct, or in our attitude.
I believe that probably many great sermons have come out of experiences like these, which I am sure happen to all Christians who are devoted to the pursuit of their sanctification. Those moments of darkness and personal despair, when God shines light on something we were previously ignorant of, and our righteousness suddenly appears as filthy rags, and all of our work up to that point seems to have been in vain---for we have failed the Lord, and are not as accomplished spiritually as we thought that we were---are actually a blessing, though they seem, for a bleak moment, to be a curse---when God shines the white light of Divine insight into our gloom.
God is intently invested in His work of sanctification in each one of His saints, and the expert in His work, much more than any of us are or can be, because our judgments of ourselves are not perfect as His are, that we can refine ourselves in the way we need to be, though we probably all fancy ourselves competent judges of ourselves; and we may be sometimes---but God is always the one who knows perfectly. And sometimes He "blindsides" us with truth---to humble us, and to keep us humble, and to remind us that we're still in process with the rest of the saints.
Even though it may feel good to us, it is really a tragedy for any Christian to believe that he or she has arrived at perfection in the knowledge or practice of God's truth, and cannot learn from anyone else or be improved in understanding or character by the understanding and example of others. There is no anointed Christian whom God has appointed to be the perfecter of the saints, who has everything and needs nothing, who only has things to give others but never anything to receive from them. Not that we aren't all at different levels of understanding and spiritual maturity, but no one has everything; and the one who believes that he or she has, is undoubtedly coming short in some way he or she doesn't realize yet. But hopefully, God will open his or her eyes for his or her benefit in time; and if the person truly loves Him, He will. (He has His methods.)
Sometimes God rewards good work with what seems to be evil. But in reality, He works in all things for the good of those who really do love Him, to perfect them, and is only doing it for that reason---not to destroy what is good, but to improve what is weak or lacking. Without that correction, none of us would improve in the way God knows we need to. When God does this, it is because He desires to improve us by showing us our faults and our weaknesses, to encourage us to work with Him to make those things better, not to discourage us in our sanctification and our faith---as though nothing we've done up to then counts for anything, or as though we are complete failures as Christians.
No Christian is perfect in understanding or in character, but we probably all think we're better than we really are on some level; it's inevitable as human beings who do not have God's perfect knowledge. A reality check from God is necessary from time to time, and actually a blessing.
Once we have mourned over the shattering of our confidence in ourselves a while, He lifts us up by showing us that it was only to bring our attention to something that He wants us to improve in. It could be love, or humility, or self-control, or gentleness, or trust in Him. But however He reveals to us whatever flaw or shortcoming or error He reveals, it's revealed with good intentions, though it may grieve us for ourselves for a time. (And I believe that some of that mourning is really pride----mourning over not being as good as we thought we were or wanted to be.)
But from deep lows, God raises us up to greater heights. And then He brings us down again to do the same. That's the refining process of sanctification; and may it never cease for any of us so long as we are in the body, because we believe we have nothing more to learn or to improve in. (God won't stop doing this with us---but pride or stubbornness on our part can potentially inhibit His work.)
I write this as an exhortation to you, beloved of God, not from the summit of the mountain to those down below, but as a fellow climber. I hope you will take it to heart for yourselves as I do for myself. Even if you know this, it's good to be reminded.
This is not encouragement to be lax in your sanctification because no one is perfect, but to remind you that you are a work in progress, and not above correction or improvement. Perhaps you have more understanding in one thing than another does, or are stronger in a particular area than another is---and that is good---but you're not perfect, and someone else may have more understanding about something that you do not understand as well as you think you do, or be stronger in a certain area than you are; and God is working on you just as He is working on them.
So as we interact here, I encourage us all to remember this, and to be humble in our judgment of ourselves, knowing that it isn't perfect, and to focus not only on improving others by what we may have, but also on being improved by others by what they may have. If others need improvement in some way, in their understanding or their attitude or their behavior, we do also.
May the Lord bless you.