Accepting Less
Jul 30, 2018 9:48:56 GMT -6
Post by Gene Whitehurst on Jul 30, 2018 9:48:56 GMT -6
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (Eph 3:20) Well, maybe the words are a little too rich for us, so we reduce them to something like, ‘Now unto him that is able to do just barely above what we ask or think.’
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom 8:37) Some of us may wish to rewrite this verse to be, ‘We are able to cope with some of the circumstances of life.’
So we go to church regularly, we study the Bible sometimes, and we meet with the Lord sometimes to pray. We hear and read the Scripture. We take note that the adjectives that describe the heights of the Christian life are far beyond our experience. Sometimes we hunger for the richness to be in our experience. We shrug the feeling away. We see in Scripture that there are blessings and wonders available to our life just waiting to be claimed and lived and enjoyed. We slack away in unbelief and uneasiness.
And we seem to accept this state. We regulate our lives to accepting less, even though we know there is much more available to us, but we allow ourselves to become content to stay where we are. Accepting less means that we can raise our children, do our jobs, attend to household chores, love our spouses, and cruise gently along with little spiritual growth, and with little real communion with the Lord. We reach a spiritual plateau where we can get things to fit into their places rather nicely and we suspend any spiritual pursuit or growth at that point.
Maybe we don’t know how to progress. Maybe we don’t want to expend the energy to progress. Maybe we are afraid it will hurt. Maybe we will be asked to do something that sounds difficult. Maybe we will be asked to give up something in our lives. These maybes circulate around our mind during church sometimes, but are soon pushed into the back of our minds.
The life of accepting less is not where the Lord wants you. It is not obedience. It is a game. We make motions to draw closer to the Lord, but with reservations in our obedience instead of utter obedience. We yield ourselves, but only partially. We draw back from complete submission.
Friend, do not deny yourself. Do you realize that the Lord wants communion with you more than you do with him? He is intensely interested in your life. He has designed a life for you that is exceeding abundantly above what you could imagine. Yes, real obedience will mean some sacrifice; some pruning of things from your life, but the blessings that come from communion with your Lord will far outweigh these apparent losses. Believer, you should open the hands of your heart to God. Allow God to take away whatever He wishes; allow God to place into your hands whatever He wishes. There are no regrets to any believer who has turned his life over to God.
If you are not willing to do this, then you deny yourself the blessings of the Lord. If you want to change, then ask the Lord to make you willing to be whatever He wants you to be. Take baby steps at first as you gain confidence in His provision. Accepting less in life is a tragedy. Do not do it!
“…Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Cor 2:9)
- Gene Whitehurst
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom 8:37) Some of us may wish to rewrite this verse to be, ‘We are able to cope with some of the circumstances of life.’
So we go to church regularly, we study the Bible sometimes, and we meet with the Lord sometimes to pray. We hear and read the Scripture. We take note that the adjectives that describe the heights of the Christian life are far beyond our experience. Sometimes we hunger for the richness to be in our experience. We shrug the feeling away. We see in Scripture that there are blessings and wonders available to our life just waiting to be claimed and lived and enjoyed. We slack away in unbelief and uneasiness.
And we seem to accept this state. We regulate our lives to accepting less, even though we know there is much more available to us, but we allow ourselves to become content to stay where we are. Accepting less means that we can raise our children, do our jobs, attend to household chores, love our spouses, and cruise gently along with little spiritual growth, and with little real communion with the Lord. We reach a spiritual plateau where we can get things to fit into their places rather nicely and we suspend any spiritual pursuit or growth at that point.
Maybe we don’t know how to progress. Maybe we don’t want to expend the energy to progress. Maybe we are afraid it will hurt. Maybe we will be asked to do something that sounds difficult. Maybe we will be asked to give up something in our lives. These maybes circulate around our mind during church sometimes, but are soon pushed into the back of our minds.
The life of accepting less is not where the Lord wants you. It is not obedience. It is a game. We make motions to draw closer to the Lord, but with reservations in our obedience instead of utter obedience. We yield ourselves, but only partially. We draw back from complete submission.
Friend, do not deny yourself. Do you realize that the Lord wants communion with you more than you do with him? He is intensely interested in your life. He has designed a life for you that is exceeding abundantly above what you could imagine. Yes, real obedience will mean some sacrifice; some pruning of things from your life, but the blessings that come from communion with your Lord will far outweigh these apparent losses. Believer, you should open the hands of your heart to God. Allow God to take away whatever He wishes; allow God to place into your hands whatever He wishes. There are no regrets to any believer who has turned his life over to God.
If you are not willing to do this, then you deny yourself the blessings of the Lord. If you want to change, then ask the Lord to make you willing to be whatever He wants you to be. Take baby steps at first as you gain confidence in His provision. Accepting less in life is a tragedy. Do not do it!
“…Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Cor 2:9)
- Gene Whitehurst