This from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
April 29
"Our natural inclination is to be so precise— trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next— that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3 ). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “. . . believe also in Me” (John 14:1 ), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in— but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him."
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3 ). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “. . . believe also in Me” (John 14:1 ), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in— but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him."
1 John 3:2 "Beloved, we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."
I don't want to just believe my beliefs about Him. I do feel "limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled". It's like I know they're not, but I don't live like I know that. I constantly try to figure out what God's next move is. I hear testimonies and see what God did in their lives and wonder how He's going to do the same exact thing in my life. I try to plan out God's next strategic move for me. It's funny that I even think that I'm a better planner than God. Maybe I do believe He's a better planner, but I want to know what He's doing and when. I want to be in control. But I've already proven to myself that I can't control anything. I can't control my emotions, struggles with sin, or even my thoughts alone. I can't plan anything because I don't have control over myself. I don't know His plan so it scares me when I don't know what's going on. He has shown me countless times, without me knowing it, that He has control. I think I believe that He has the control and I know He works everything out for the good of those who love Him, but it's the process that's hard for me. I'm a destination/goal person. I want to reach the goal and then say good job everyone let's go home. Apparently life is not like that. That's a fun one to learn–that I'm going to be in a process my entire life. I guess it seems weird that I'm all of a sudden figuring this out, but I have a feeling that I'm going to take a long time for me to accept that....great! More processing! So if God outplans me all the time and His ideas are so much better for me than mine are, why is it so hard to trust that it's okay and actually good to be uncertain?
Thank you for outplanning me. Thank you for being so intelligent that there is no way I could figure out your ways. Thank you for Your grace and that You remain patient with me as I try to figure out (there I go again) how to stop trying to figure out. Help me to come to terms with reality–that I don's know Your ways and have control. You have the control Father. Please continue to give me a bigger view of You and a smaller view of myself. Thank you for showing me new things every day and giving me grace in my attempt to understand You. Thank you that You are too big to understand. That's comforting. Thank you for knowing what's best for me and for Your people.
I don't want to just believe my beliefs about Him. I do feel "limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled". It's like I know they're not, but I don't live like I know that. I constantly try to figure out what God's next move is. I hear testimonies and see what God did in their lives and wonder how He's going to do the same exact thing in my life. I try to plan out God's next strategic move for me. It's funny that I even think that I'm a better planner than God. Maybe I do believe He's a better planner, but I want to know what He's doing and when. I want to be in control. But I've already proven to myself that I can't control anything. I can't control my emotions, struggles with sin, or even my thoughts alone. I can't plan anything because I don't have control over myself. I don't know His plan so it scares me when I don't know what's going on. He has shown me countless times, without me knowing it, that He has control. I think I believe that He has the control and I know He works everything out for the good of those who love Him, but it's the process that's hard for me. I'm a destination/goal person. I want to reach the goal and then say good job everyone let's go home. Apparently life is not like that. That's a fun one to learn–that I'm going to be in a process my entire life. I guess it seems weird that I'm all of a sudden figuring this out, but I have a feeling that I'm going to take a long time for me to accept that....great! More processing! So if God outplans me all the time and His ideas are so much better for me than mine are, why is it so hard to trust that it's okay and actually good to be uncertain?
Thank you for outplanning me. Thank you for being so intelligent that there is no way I could figure out your ways. Thank you for Your grace and that You remain patient with me as I try to figure out (there I go again) how to stop trying to figure out. Help me to come to terms with reality–that I don's know Your ways and have control. You have the control Father. Please continue to give me a bigger view of You and a smaller view of myself. Thank you for showing me new things every day and giving me grace in my attempt to understand You. Thank you that You are too big to understand. That's comforting. Thank you for knowing what's best for me and for Your people.
No comments:
Post a Comment