I haven’t had much time or
inclination for writing this week. I’ve been wrestling with the fleshly
opposites of the Fruit of the Spirit, and joy, peace, patience, and
self-control have been lacking. My frequent prayer has been, “Lord, do it for
me because I can’t do it for myself!” And as I was reminded in chapel Wednesday
(thanks to Travis Hutcheson), only Jesus can do the cleansing of the temple
that we need to make His glory shine through us. (See 2 Chronicles 7:1-3, Mark 11:15-17,
and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)
In the midst of these challenges,
I’ve been reading some books by John Piper. In A Godward Heart, he
writes:
“The
death of Jesus for sin was planned before the foundation of the world. We know
this because the book of Revelation refers to names written ‘before the
foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain’
(Revelation 13:8), and because Paul tells us that God saved us by ‘grace, which
he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began’ (2 Timothy 1:9). Therefore,
since Christ was slain for sin, and since grace is God’s response to sin, we
know that sin was part of the plan from the beginning... What is at stake in
the sovereignty of God over sin is the ultimate aim of the universe, namely, the
exaltation of the Son of God in the greatest act of wrath-removing,
sin-forgiving, justice-vindication grace that ever was or ever could be...”
(10-12).
I realize that many Christians
don’t hold such a broad view of the sovereignty and foreknowledge of God, but
I’m becoming more convinced of it day by day. And the more I believe in God’s
foreknowledge of how sinful I would be, the more amazing His grace becomes. He
had no reason to love or forgive any one of us, and yet He did. And His grace
not only forgives our sin, but it changes us as well. Elyse Fitzpatrick writes
in Overcoming Fear, Worry and Anxiety,
“Grace
inclines our hearts to live lives that are sober and moderate... His grace
bends our hearts toward righteousness. Whereas we once relished the thought of
coddling our pet sin, we are now learning, by His grace, to hate it and to love
righteousness... So you see, a true measure of God’s grace in one’s life isn’t
careless living, rather, it’s a life bent toward holiness. And a correct
understanding of His grace realizes that we’ll never be perfectly holy while
here on earth” (186-187).
I take away several lessons from
my reading and experiences of late. 1) God knows my sin and weakness and loves
me anyway. 2) He is working to change me and grow His fruit in me. 3) He will
work in His own time and way. That last point is both reassuring and
frustrating. He will accomplish His purposes, but not on my schedule. I want to
see the Fruit of the Spirit just bursting forth in my life, the way the flowers
practically pop into bloom each spring. But then again, the flowers bloom and
fade in a very short time. We have a lifetime to be refined and God is going to
use every minute of it.
Another book I just finished is Healing
Is a Choice, by Stephen Arterburn. He states, “God is with you and wants to
grow your character. The quick fix or instant solution does not do that.
Character is never instant, and God often uses our circumstances to build it
within us... All of your sorrow and struggle and pain will be used for your
good and His glory. He will not waste a thing” (201, 211). God can even use our
sin shape us the way He wants us to be. If nothing else, it is a reminder of
how much we need His grace to forgive us and change us.
“It is when we are conscious that
we are feeble, and when we feel our need of aid, that the redeemer manifests
His power to uphold, and imparts His purest consolations.” –Albert Barnes
“But by the grace of God I am
what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked
harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with
me” (1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV).
