"But if not"

We, as human beings, are happy to be Christians when things are easy. While it's popular. And, forget the approvals, we are even quite willing to be ridiculed, as long we know we'll be rewarded.
But are we willing to serve God when the going gets tough?
When it appears as though evil is triumphing?
When it seems He has all but forsaken us, His answers not forthcoming?

Apparently Daniel's three friends were.

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:16-18 (emphasis mine) 

 

 What courage! Young men who were serious about their God. And I wonder- does such a thing still exist in our generation?

 

Joseph went through the toughest thing anyone can go through. He's innocent, he stands for right, and his reputation is RUINED. 
 

"Joseph’s faithful integrity led to the loss of his reputation and his liberty. This is the severest test that the virtuous and God-fearing are subjected to, that vice seems to prosper while virtue is trampled in the dust...." 

(Conflict and Courage page 76.2) 

 

And I think of Esther. "If I perish." (see Esther 4:16)

Would we still trust God?

The focus of these Hebrew youths was not on themselves. It was on their God. It wasn't about them. Even if He did not deliver them, their priority was obeying Him.

 

Would we say that? Why do we serve God? Do we seek His glory? Do we truly love Him? Or do we merely do the right things because our 'gut-feeling' tells us it's the safest course to save our own skins?

 

Aah, but, we say. Things did work out for them in the end. 

Don't we believe they will for us too? 

We forget about the trying, even terrible experiences they had to go through first. And what about the countless martyrs who through the ages, and to this very day, who were not delivered from physical death and totrure, who actually laid down their lives for their Lord?

  

The scenarios we don't understand are more in number than our finite minds can grasp. In some cases people are laid to rest, and it doesn't occur to us that it is to save them, while they are still safe to save, before they can be tempted and turn aside. Only God knows what we would do with life should He extend it.Then the more common, "little" things. Nothing is working, you're frustrated because you're late for your appointment, but blissfully unaware of the accident you just missed being involved in!

Sometimes we get a tiny glimpse of God's providence in the trials of life. More often than not, though, it is unperceived, and we question. Disbelieving, we demand answers.

 

You see, we don't see the big picture. So, often we can't comprehend the puzzle pieces we hold in our hands. But we do know that God always acts in our very best interest, creating a thing of exquisite beauty. We can say with Paul, that this trial, this apparent defeat, has directly resulted in our salvation. (See Philippians 1:19)

 

Luke 6:22 says, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake."
Blessed!

We can count ourselves blessed to be treated in the same way our Master was. In fact, it is the greatest honour.

 

 "God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honoured than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon." (Desire of Ages p 224.5)

 

Will we be "But if not" Christians?

What if it's "not"?

Am I willing to face the worst, regardless of the consequences?

 

Is He enough?

To Live is Christ

This may sound cliché-like, but it shouldn't, because it's gospel.
Without Jesus, I am nothing. Nothing.

But we first have to fall before we realise how far we've fallen. And thus I often find myself, slipping, sliding, clawing at the dirt, desperately trying not to lose what little grip I have left, until it all finally gives way. Then I fall, fast. Plummeting into utter oblivion, wondering how much lower one go. Once you're there, feeling rock bottom is inevitable.

How do we get there? It doesn't happen instantaneously. People never crumble in a day. Giants, seemingly strong and unconquerable, are slowly chipped away, piece by piece, until they are undermined. Like a slow erosion process.

Now for the bombshell: It happens from within! Yes, we are the cause, our own worst enemy. Self.

To overcome, we must die. Not temporarily. Self will not share the preeminence. We cannot be even partly alive to the things of this world. 

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3 

How we feel, what people do to us, things that don't go according to plan- none of this concerns us. What happens to us here, ultimately, doesn't matter anymore. We are already dead.  
 
Then we say: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Of Second (and Third, No- COUNTLESS) Chances

On so deep, so broad a subject, I almost hesitate to put pen to paper. 

But I will. 

Not because I understand it. 

Not because I know all the hows and whys and wherefores. 

Not because I'm by any means an expert (on the contrary!).

I write merely because I have experienced.

Because I have been the humble, undeserving recipient of mercy so great I cannot dream of words with which to portray it, let alone comprehend it!

Imagine... The King of the universe, creating a world of perfection from a tiny speck of cosmic dust, because He loves, only to have the ones He loves choose someone else! And yet He won't abandon them. Instead, He gives (not lends, but gives) His only Son, His dearest treasure, to forever be one of them. And to die. Yet this awesome truth- Heaven's Prince, taking our place that we, guilty sinners might live, more often than not fails to evoke in us more than but a passing interest, if that. But while we go on with our busy lives, the Father is still waiting with mercy, pardon, redemption and restoration. Despite our numerous blatant rejections, more than anything, He longs to have a relationship with us. No, mercy cannot linger forever, but God gives every opportunity He can for us to be reconciled.

All throughout human history has been portrayed the long-suffering mercy, the love of God towards His erring children. 

Think of Abraham. God called Him, but he was still human, susceptible to doubts, slow to learn. Not once, but twice he made the mistake of saying Sarah was his sister. Yet God never wrote him off as a failure. He simply picked up where Abraham had left, and continued their journey. 

Then we have Moses. Self-trusting, warlike, thinking he knows how to deliver God's people without God's help. He has murdered a man, however, God does not cast him away. He has some serious 'unlearning' to  do, but in the end God still uses him mightily.

The people Moses was leading were even worse, if that be possible. Rejecting the God who delivered them from the heavy yoke of bondage, they gave themselves up to the worship of other gods. This they did, not once, but many times, to the point where God Himself was ready to destroy them. Yet in His mercy He spared them yet again, giving them another chance.

Peter. Three times he denied his Lord, at a time when, of all times, he should have been standing up for Him. Yet one cannot fall unless you have been standing. And Jesus didn't put him on 'probation'. There was no "I'll first watch you and then we'll decide". Just: "Do you love Me? Then feed my sheep." He restored him from where he had fallen, brought him even closer to Himself. 

And so we have seen just a few examples of the unending evidences of God's amazing forbearance, His mercy, and unwillingness to let any of His children perish.

That "Love that will not let me go"!

Countless times I've failed Him, but, He never gives up on me. 
Instead, He picks me up yet again, calls me to walk even nearer to Him. Neither does He first watch me to make sure I'm free from faults and mistakes before allowing me to serve Him again.
I cannot comprehend it. 
His ways are past finding out! (Romans 11:33)

Or Not Be Used At All?

This evening as we sang the familiar hymn: Live Out Thy Life Within Me. The old song took on a new meaning for me in the form of this one profound phrase:

"Or not be used at all."

"Ready to have Thee use them, Or not be used at all."

That first phrase resonates so nicely our concept of how things should be. We're important. We must be used (or so we think). We don't even think twice about the alternative.
Maybe we should.

We're always ready to do something, be someone great. "I'll go", we say. "Anywhere, Lord". 

Just not nowhere.

But what if that's not His plan? 

Am I willing not to go? 

Can I stand to "not be used at all"? (emphasis mine)

Am I willing to be one of God's etceteras?

And most importantly- is He enough for me?