Here am I; send me!

God knows what I need. While I'm all to aware of this, it's slammed home when I hear a sermon [the evening message, this time] that directly addresses something I put in the previous day's blog. While it's hardly comfortable to have yourself pegged by an unsuspecting pastor, it was a pretty good day. And that's even counting the many dozens of ants that I noticed when I picked up a container of recently purchased truffles to take to the Christoph's. Apparently the seal was broken during my flight, and a few days was enough to get their attention and have them flocking on my bedroom table.

The SS lecture continued the study in Ryle, coming to the chapter on the Cost; specifically, counting it. While I didn't have a pen for notes because I was late cleaning up the ants, I do recall that there were 4 specific things Ryle notes that we must give up in following Christ -- my self-righteousness, my sins, my reputation, and a life of ease. Self-righteousness is perhaps the hardest of all, because pride sticks to your bones even when you've been regenerated. There's always little voice saying "well, you're a sinner, but you're not as much a sinner as that guy."

The morning message focused on the accessibility we have to the power of Christ, accessed through His word. Paul's expressed wish that the Colossians would be "being strengthened, according to His might" brings this to the fore. To paraphrase John Piper, Christ is most glorified in us when we depend on Him fully. We have an all-powerful, completely accessible, able-and-willing source; what kind of people should we be? In that light, how could we anything but filled with "patience and longsuffering, with joy," even i n the face of the worst trials life throws at us?

The word Paul uses for patience means literally to "remain under"; it is translated "endurance" in 2 Thess 1:4 and and "perseverance" in Romans 2:7, and refers to much more than simply holding on. Its usage refers to a growth, even flourishing, even in opposing circumstances which would seem to produce the opposite. Colossians 1:11 - strengthened with all power according to His glorious might; it's the only way that such can happen.

Pastor Gary closed with the question; given what we've seen, is it ever legitimate to look for ways out of trials, given that we have access to such power? While I would have thought he was leading to answer "no", he pointed out that every single person who is recorded as coming to Christ came for deliverance from their suffering, not for "patience" to bear it well. Christ's response in each and every case was to enact the requested relief. It is therefore legitimate to seek relief unless there are no morally acceptable means available.

The evening message was the one that really got to me, drawn from the last verses of James 4. James condemns those who, in their speech, act as practical atheists in their planning. As Pastor Andy pointed out, to live life without God at its focus is the essence of worldliness. We often rationalize passages that speak of avoiding being stained with the world, as if we are fulfilling them by avoiding the "big" sins that characterize our culture. When we do acknowledge God's providence, it's often simply lip service or even as a complaint or expression of mistrust when our wills are crossed by His.

It's a rebuke to think of how often I am a practical worldling, implicit though it may be. Is God's expressed will a controlling feature in your plans? Is His decreed will something you tolerate or even chafe against, or is it a source of comfort? As Isaiah put it, "here am I; send me!" As Abraham's servant put it, "I being in the way, the Lord led me." That's how I want to be.