(Numbers 14:11) “How long will it be ere they believe me?”
Over the years as a Christian, how often have I forgotten the basic Christian fundamentals of life as a believer? The proof of that answer would be as they say in the pudding. If and when my life was as is full of peace, I then, by the grace of God walk by His Spirit and live according to the call of God upon my life, if not, then I walked as I once walked, a dead man groping in the dark. I did not say it would be a life without suffering, we have been called to suffer as Christians and if anyone tells you otherwise they are liars; “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (1Peter 4:16) – Think on it like this; an athlete trains hard for a prize, in fact their training is so intense that their whole life revolves around winning that prize. Their life orbits around their training and so too should our lives gyrate around God’s call and His Word, but unfortunately, this is often not the case. Which in itself does not change our standing in the Lord Jesus; we are sanctified by His shed blood and not our own works as we often look to them for justification. However, we are nevertheless children, if we have His Spirit; we cannot one day be a child of God and the next day no longer be part of God’s family. That is a misconception that even some believers like to believe, they are wrong!
Having said that we also know that God requires obedience; our life goal then must be to obey our heavenly Father. How then is this done? It is very simply, we must learn to obey His Word, the Holy Scriptures; the Bible! Our instruction is not vague but rather concise, where we then struggle is when we walk in unbelief. We tend at times to doubt God’s Word as we either overthink it or we believe we know better. Without exceptions when I look back on my life, all of my scars are a reminder of my unwillingness to obey the simple instruction found in the Bible. I thought I knew better! But thankfully God is greater than our folly, praise His name! He is patient and slow to anger and for this I will be eternally thankful. When God corrects us for our wrong-doing it is an act of love and it must be view as such.
Father God I am thankful for your correction throughout my life, without it I would be lost, but now I have life. My scars now help me to remember the lies and trapping of all that oppose your Word and will. The Word of God is a safe-guard to protect us from ourselves, may God help us to except this truth, as it will be a lot less painful. Suffer we must, but the Apostle Peter reminds us that we are not to suffer as evil-doers; “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (1Peter 4:15-16)
Our downfall is our minds, we do not want to believe the Word of God, but believe it we must. All we need remember is that our God knows what is best for us, even if we think the worst; our minds are no match for Him. May we learn to trust and obey!
Look at our belated brother’s struggle over a hundred years ago, the same struggles we have today.
“Strive with all diligence to keep out that monster unbelief. It so dishonours Christ, that he will withdraw his visible presence if we insult him by indulging it. It is true it is a weed, the seeds of which we can never entirely extract from the soil, but we must aim at its root with zeal and perseverance. Among hateful things it is the most to be abhorred. Its injurious nature is so venomous that he that exerciseth it and he upon whom it is exercised are both hurt thereby. In thy case, O believer! it is most wicked, for the mercies of thy Lord in the past, increase thy guilt in doubting him now. When thou dost distrust the Lord Jesus, he may well cry out, “Behold I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.” This is crowning his head with thorns of the sharpest kind. It is very cruel for a well-beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband. The sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has never given the slightest ground for suspicion, and it is hard to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is uniformly affectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest, and has unbounded wealth; it is shameful to doubt Omnipotence and distrust all-sufficiency. The cattle on a thousand hills will suffice for our most hungry feeding, and the granaries of heaven are not likely to be emptied by our eating. If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust his fulness, but who can drain a fountain? Myriads of spirits have drawn their supplies from him, and not one of them has murmured at the scantiness of his resources. Away, then, with this lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut the bonds of communion and make us mourn an absent Saviour. Bunyan tells us that unbelief has “as many lives as a cat:” if so, let us kill one life now, and continue the work till the whole nine are gone. Down with thee, thou traitor, my heart abhors thee.” (C.H.Spurgeon)
This then must be our resolve to the Word of God and nothing in our lives must come before its instruction, May God help us to learn and appropriate this truth to our lives! May we remember that it is a daily walk; “just one day at a time sweet Jesus is all I ask of you.”
Signing off
Tyrone
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