Thursday, November 5, 2009

Leftovers


I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He lifted me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. He also put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.

Romans 5:1-2

He put a new song in my mouth. It is the experience of fresh salvation from the hand of God, the joy of finding renewed grace.

At the moment God rescued us from the domain of darkness, we received our introduction into this grace in which we now stand. Our conversion marked the initial step beyond God's common grace, the general grace He extends to all men, into His specific grace. Specific in that His effectual call leads to the place of saving faith and redemption, securing our access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Col 1:13; Ps 145:9; Matt 5:44-45; Eph 1:3).


Of these spiritual blessings, I suggest one to be our capacity to share in His joy - the very joy of which the Son of God possessed. From this attitude we give expression to Paul's teaching to 'rejoice always'. We are blessed in that we are freed to trust in a sovereign God who graciously fashions our days and guides us to openly rejoice in them (John 15:11; I Thess 5:16; Psalm 118:24). Again, God gives us fresh grace.

Don’t settle, eat well.

Typically I abide by a 24 hour policy when it comes to leftovers. This, of course, doesn’t apply to those dishes that get “better” once the seasoning is absorbed overnight. But in general, should the food under consideration have been in the fridge over 24 hours, I’ll make a PBJ. Would that I have the same standard spiritually!

Consume God’s grace. Absorb His mercy, and not for the sheer “wow-ness” of it, but simply because God is always present. His grace and mercy, never in flux, are a constant dynamic within the lives of His children no matter what may befall us.

Eat a well balanced diet.

Some are bound to the “wow-ness” of God. By their regular craving for the next “god-high”, their nutrition proves to be off balance. Having yet to feed on the various nuances of grace, these miss the perpetual realities of God’s grace and mercy. Experiencing grace in times of miraculous manifestation is one thing. Sensing His sustaining grace through the monotonous grind of our days and trusting this same grace when calamity strikes, these are something all together different.


To the imbalanced diet, John Tauler cautions. He writes that there is a type of spiritual captivity that is forever bound to the “sweet raptures of the spirit. Many a man attuned to God loses his way in this captivity because he pursues the sweetness too long and surrenders to it in an undisciplined manner, searching for and holding on to it to eagerly, because it seems a good thing and delightful to possess. But that is the moment when nature claims her share and man is deprived of the delight, just when he thinks he has grasped God…(he becomes) discontented and troubled as soon as the sweetness is taken away from him and whether he is unable to serve God as willingly and loyally as when he still possessed it (20 Centuries of Great Preaching, John Tauler, Sermon for the Sunday of the Ascension of Our Lord, vol 1, pg, 214).

Similarly, John of the Cross in his popular work The Dark Night of the Soul recalls the seasons that God expressly removes the intense joy of His presence simply for the purpose of honing our desire for Him (Devotional Classics, Richard Foster). As Cross writes, these times are divinely sent so that our desire is less for, to borrow from Tauler, “the sweet raptures of the spirit” and more toward the concentrated pursuit of who God is.


These dark nights, equip us to persevere. Though feeling the weight of discouragement and disillusionment, we wait patiently for daybreak. Knowing that though weeping is for the night a shout of joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:4-5).

Again, eat well. Know that God's grace is never in flux. Wait and listen for the New Song. Find fresh movements of His grace in every corner of life.

Blessings