“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-10
A brother in Christ sent this verse to me…..it was part of his morning devo and he just felt led by God to send it to me for encouragement as I come up against a deadline for a need…..a ‘necessary’ cog in the wheel that keeps my family rolling on through this journey home…..that comes due on Tuesday..and no clue how the provision will be made for its resolution……but I am sure, even if this cog has to be temporarily done without that our God will move in ways that I scarce imagine…either moving others within the body to intervene in the need, as He has in the past or to make a way to garner the necessary components to give me the ability to address it myself.
Either way, the surpassing greatness of our God will be evident in the working out of this situation.
It impacted me…….this short, three-verse section of the second letter to the Corinthians from our dear apostle Paul…..in ways the Spirit had yet to show me as I left work on Friday and headed home.
My struggles and trials aren’t without purpose, unless I refuse to learn from them. It doesn’t mean once the lesson is learned that the struggles will cease, but that as we build upon the lessons learned, the struggles consume less of our time and mind in bearing through them as we should. We stop listening to the weakeness of our flesh and begin to use the unsurpassed great power that God imparts to us….in these corrupted bodies through the treasure of a new heart fine-tuned to God’s. Joy becomes our song, peace our drum beat and grace our daily measure…….
“Simplicity is the secret to seeing things clearly.” Oswald Chambers writes in My Utmost For His Highest. “A saint does not think clearly for a long while, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear, you have to obey it clear……the reasoning capability comes afterwards, but we never see along that line, we see like children; when we try and be wise we see nothing.” (Matthew 11:25)
God calls us not to blind obedience, but to obedience born from the realization of His faithfulness and glory when we are yet still blind……because our flesh wants to see the realm we journey through and not the spiritual world we live in or the home we journey towards. We fight against our old nature because of the corruption of this world but we transform our obedience with the indwelling of the Spirit…the hope lived in a broken world.
I may fall come tomorrow night as the cog that is ‘necessary’ to my family’s journeying is stopped by the need I have, but God never will.
And I may not be able to see why, in the foggy mist of the future, this has happened without intervention but I am trusting, because of the love and the promises that God has already given and caused fruition in my life that this is within His grasp to control and therefore He is calling me to step blindly into that future, seeking His voice and His presence there.
Ginny Owens says it best in her song, If You Want Me To………
“The pathway is broken, and the signs are unclear…..And I don't know the reason why You brought me here. But just because You love me the way that You do, I'm gonna walk through the valley……If You want me to……Cause I'm not who I was when I took my first step. And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet. So if all of these trials bring me closer to you, then I will walk through the fire……….if You want me to…..It may not be the way I would have chosen when you lead me through a world that's not my home. But You never said it would be easy……You only said I'd never go alone…… So when the whole world turns against me and I'm all by myself. And I can't hear You answer my cries for help, I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through and I will go through the valley……. if You want me to…..Cause when I cross over Jordan, I’m gonna sing I’m gonna shout. I’m going to look into Your eyes and see You never let me down…..So take me on the pathway that leads me home to You. And I will walk through the valley…if You want me to. Yes, I will walk through the valley if You want me to.”
My life speaks of falling without permanence and failure without loss of hope. Blindly I will step into the mist of the future, trusting God to be there where I can’t yet see and having made provision for me already within the plans He has set in motion through, around and in my life.
Simply trusting in my Father’s love to see me home……
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