Spiritual Drama
Once in a while I hear someone say, “Whoa!”
But I never hear anyone say “Woe!”
It’s a word we don’t use much anymore.
But Isaiah used it—and when we did—it had a powerful
meaning. Let’s take a look:
“Woe to me!” I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean
lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have
seen the King, the Lord Almighty’ ” (Isaiah 6:5 NIV).
Isaiah got close enough to God, he was able to see Him as He
truly is—exalted and in fathomless glory. Isaiah’s response?
“Woe to me!”
And he cried this exclamation.
The apostle John, when banished on the criminally infested,
rocky, volcanic island of Patmos, also saw God in the exalted Christ.
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. . . .”
(John 1:17 LB).
John’s response? He fainted.
He was out cold. Down for the count.
When God passed by Moses, He told Moses to cover his face.
Moses obeyed, but after God had passed by and Moses joined his
people, they noticed his face was shining in brilliance because he had
been so close to the Lord. (See Exodus 33:19-23)
Ezekiel saw a vision of God:
“And when I saw it, I fell face downward on the ground. . . .”
(Ezekiel 1:28 LB).
He fainted.
Why all the drama? Fainting, crying “Woe,” and out cold?
It’s because when we get close enough to God and see Him
exalted—as He truly is—we are suddenly and keenly aware of our
own sinfulness.
As long as we don’t get that close to God, we can live
comfortably with our own personal holiness. But when He truly
reveals Himself to us in His perfect glory, we become radically
changed.
Instead of being satisfied with where we are spiritually right now
. . . lets become consistently agitated until we are close enough to
God that we become radically changed.
Thoughts?
Please pray for me as I speak in Nacogdoches, Texas this
weekend.
Right Concept, Wrong Idea #7
We’re taking a look at some well-known thoughts that we tend to
misinterpret biblically.
“God heals everyone who has enough faith.”
God’s healing isn’t dependent on your faith.
God can do whatever, whenever and wherever He wants regardless
of you.
Yes, He loves it when you express your faith in Him.
And He loves to increase your faith.
But He also accepts your shallow faith:
(Remember the father whose son was demon-possessed and mute?)
“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 ESV)
Paul didn’t tell Timothy to have more faith so his stomach would be
healed. Instead, Paul advised him not only to drink water—
but to take a little wine for his stomach problems.
This isn’t telling all of us who have stomach problems to drink wine,
but it does show us that God doesn’t heal all Christians while they’re
on earth. Eventually, all will be healed—in heaven.
Paul spoke about the “thorn in his flesh.”
Many Bible scholars think this had something to do with his eyesight.
Notice in 2 Thessalonians 3:17, he tells us he’s ending the letter with
his own handwriting. This lets us know that he dictated the letter to
someone else, but Paul signed it himself.
Many scholars believe it was because of his poor eyesight that he
needed to use a scribe to write his letters.
And in Galatians 6:11, Paul tells us he’s writing in large letters. Again,
many believe that’s because of his declining eyesight at that time.
Paul prayed many times that God would heal him of the “thorn in his
flesh.” He certainly had faith that God could do this. But whatever the
thorn was, Paul wasn’t healed of it.
He accepted God’s answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, my
power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV).
I can’t help but think of Joni Eareckson Tada whose diving accident
during her teen years caused her to become a quadriplegic.
She—long with many others—have prayed for her healing. It’s
certainly not because she doesn’t have faith that God hasn’t healed
her.
For reasons we won’t understand until we’re in heaven, God simply
chooses to heal some people on earth and others not until they’re
with Him.
It’s His will that we continue to pray healing for those who need it, but
we shouldn’t lose faith when we don’t see our prayers answered
during our timetable.
Thoughts?
Please pray for me as I speak in Swartz Creek, MI this weekend.
Right Concept, Wrong Idea #6
We’re taking a look at some well-known thoughts that we tend to
misinterpret biblically.
“God will only give me what I can handle.”
We often assume God won’t load our lives with more than we can
bear. Many Christians make this faulty assumption based on the fact
that God won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle.
Here’s the proof:
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to
mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you can endure it”
(1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV).
Make no mistake.
God will always provide a way out of temptation.
But temptation is a completely different subject than life’s difficulties.
We often have more than we can bear.
And many times God calls us to do something beyond our
strength.
Check out what the apostle Paul experienced in Asia:
“We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to
endure . . . we felt we had received the sentence of death.
“But this happened that we might not rely on
ourselves but on God, who raises the dead”
(2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV).
Did you catch that?
Paul thought he was dying!
The pressure was so unbearable, the difficulty so horrific,
he thought he’d never see another sunset.
It was definitely MORE than he could handle!
But what happened?
He relied on God!
Let’s read what he wrote later:
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses,
in insult,
in hardships,
in persecutions,
in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong”
(2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV).
Instead of saying that God won’t give us more than we can handle,
let’s try saying this:
God will often give us more than we can handle, but never more
than we can handle when we depend on His strength instead of
our own.
Thoughts?