Thursday 9 August was a public holiday: Woman’s Day. My housemate Fritz, with a little suggestion from another housemate (Cat, her former housemate’s cooked for her), made us breakfast. I had a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon that Fritz got up to make before I left for a hike.
The Sunday after I abandoned my car in Swellendam, I woke up with that “pit of despair” feeling in my stomach and then when I read through a devotional book that I have, it spoke directly to me (My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers) and I wanted to share that with you:
The Theology of Rest August 12
“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” – Matthew 8:26
When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits’ end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.
“O you of little faith!” What a pang must have shot through the disciples – ‘Missed it again!’ And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced downright joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no mater what was ahead.
There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence of Him.
We have been talking a great deal about sanctification – what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.
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2 comments:
God's kept breaking FAL and me to this point over and over again in our 2 yrs. of marriage. Yikes. It's amazing how confident I am in Him when life is sailing smoothly, and how quickly my focus shifts when the storms hit. I am so grateful for His mercy! And yes, I hope one day, He will be completely proud and joyed that we stuck with Him all the way! srkl
we'd love to see you when you come back to visit, let us know when you're home. maybe we'll get to capetown before 2010...
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