Friday, February 25, 2011

"That"

You've probably heard the story.

Two Christian men were talking about a particularly challenging situation one of them faced. "I've tried this. I've tried that" said the fellow with the problem. "I've even tried this and that. Finally, however, I'm at my wit's end. I'm left with nothing it seems but to pray!"
The man's friend grimaced, and responded with a deep and pained sigh of sympathy, "Oh, has it come to that?!"
Life sometimes brings us to that. Certainly it is good and proper to do what we can about problems that arise. God often leads us to act immediately, administering His provision by our own hearts, minds and hands, with no need in the moment to pray (previous prayers of faith and submission having prepared us to act immediately and spontaneously). However, our Heavenly Father both orchestrates and allows situations, circumstances and conditions that stymie us. Our minds can find no answers, our hands no acts to perform, our feet no clear paths to walk. We come to that, and it is a hard, difficult and maybe even heartbreaking venue.
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes our Lord does the stilling for us. He touches the hollow of our thigh, as it were, and wrestling is reduced to merely hanging on (Genesis 32:22-32). We cannot solve our problem. We cannot fill our emptiness. We cannot make our way. We can do nothing, nothing except that. In such times, the possibility of better knowing that God is God awaits us. Indeed, the pain and paralysis of a thigh bone out of joint may open our eyes more clearly than ever we have known to the great truth of who He is - and who we are not.
The truth of the matter is that we live the entirety of our existence in the realm of that. "Without Me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). We will one day discover that even in those times when our own hands and feet were at their busiest, the Lord Jesus Christ was the nevertheless the source, supply and power of every moment. Being still - or being stilled - reveals this truth more clearly to us, namely, that we are utterly and eternally dependent on the God who is utterly and eternally faithful to be everything we need Him to be. Yes, it always comes to that, because whether active or inert, the truth of our being was rightly declared by Moses...
"He is thy life."
(Deuteronomy 30:20)

No comments: