In news commentaries I keep hearing the word “unsustainable,” meaning out of control. The national debt is unsustainable. So is the California budget. Greece is the first European nation considering bankruptcy—its debt unsustainable. Real estate values are not predicted to return to the 'highs' of 2008 until 2020. Many home-owners are “upside-down,” foreclosures inevitable, their payments unsustainable.
But let’s make this a bit more personal. Perhaps many of you are feeling like your circumstances are out of your control—the things that used to sustain you no longer do. Don’t be surprised; this is part of God’s method for preparing you for kingdom work! Before the Hebrews could go in and possess the Promised Land, God led them into the Wilderness where their faith was tested. How? by removing all the things that had sustained them in Egypt—the familiar things that comforted them and gave them a sense of control.
Too many Christians today are trying to lay claim to God’s promises, while unwilling to let go of the “old” things that sustained them—they want to keep a foot in both worlds. If we are honest, we all want to retain some self-reliance, our independence—as a fall-back position. But if we are unresponsive, the wilderness will be prolonged. When you stop trying to sustain yourself, you will discover the Christ who sustains you, the One Who holds all things together (Col. 1:17).
Greg,
ReplyDelete"Things that used to sustain you no longer do; this is by design..."--a valuable observation indeed, Greg. I remember as a single young man, encountering the pressures of lust, yet not wanting to displease my Lord by occupying my thoughts with my desires. So I requested help from His Spirit and discovered that things were already in place to rescue and strengthen me. He was already "a very present Help in time of trouble!" He reminded me of one of the lines from one of my favorite choruses our youth group sang often--from the Psalms: "...Oh my God, I trust in Thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me!" And that became my anchor and my strength for about two weeks; it seemed there was no temptation strong enough to unseat my confidence in Him as testified by that Psalm!
Then, one day temptation showed up suddenly at work and I tried to draw upon the strength I had come to trust in from that Psalm...with minimal success. At the close of my day I cried out to God in frustration, wondering why His Word that day had had such little power as before. The answer came back to my spirit that Scripture does not tell me "Thy words have I hid in my heart" but rather "Thy WORD have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee."
Oh.
I found many more scriptures that taught the same truth as I had found in the passage from the Psalms. But I had to brought to the understanding that there was no formula of words that was effective; but rather I was sustained by the penetration of the life in His Word imparted to my spirit from those words.
Stan