Category Archives: Christian Life

When I need to be taken down a peg or two….

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I get a daily e-mail devotional from the writings of Elisabeth Elliot. I have read probably most of her books, and they often minister to my heart. One devotional I received earlier in the week hit me right between the eyes, not only because of what it said, but also because of its timeliness:

Jesus gave responsibility and power to those who were willing to take the path He took. They were to represent the kingdom wherever they went–their peace to rest on those who received them. Those who rejected them were actually rejecting Christ. His followers would have power over snakes and scorpions.

There are principles here for us today, I believe. Surely every believer represents Christ and his kingdom. We are promised power from the Holy Spirit. But as soon as his power is manifest, another spirit is there instantly to tempt us to take credit to ourselves. If we are thanked for something we were merely the instrument for, it can become a heady business. Wow! we say, imagining that we deserve the credit.

Jesus warned the disciples not to be impressed when spirits submitted to them. It was not by their might or power that the enemy was subdued. They were nothing more than bearers of the kingdom. He told them to rejoice, not that they had performed a miraculous feat, but that their names were written in heaven.

Open my eyes, Lord, to recognize that the power is always yours. What is mine is the privilege, given from above, for your glory.

It was timely because just the very night before receiving it, I had been sorely tempted to get all “puffed up” because of some tiny, silly, insignificant thing. The flesh’s constant craving for attention, approval, praise, and glory is one of my most discouraging continual battles. Reading these words from Elisabeth Elliot encouraged me not only because it it helped me get my focus and perspective back in the right place, but also because it reminded me I am not alone in this struggle, that it’s a common one.

In one of my all-time favorite books, Climbing by Rosalind Goforth, she tells of struggling with this also:

[After receiving word that she was asked to take a meeting that afternoon], What could I do? There was the baby to nurse, and some message must be thought out. Hastily taking up the baby, I opened the Bible and placed it on a chair near enough to see, but at a safe distance from little, grasping hands. (Every mother knows a baby fights against divided attention!) Just then my husband opened the door. He exclaimed, “Well, Rose! It puzzles me how you can address a meeting with so little preparation.”

I replied, “Jonathan, if I had time like you, I could not expect to get a message in so short a time, but the fact is the Lord suits His help to me as a mother!” And oh, so often He did. (That afternoon the Lord gave a blessed message.)

I remember how when home in 1910 I addressed, during that furlough, over two hundred and fifty meetings. I had five children to care for then, and many times it was not till I was dressing to go to the meeting that, as I cast myself down on my knees for a moment, there came to me a clear-cut outline of the message I was to give. It was wonderful! It was D. L. Moody who once said, “The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe.”

Sadly and humbly, I must confess that many, many times when I had cried to the Lord for power in speaking and evident power was given, I had not left the platform before the thought would come, “I” have done well today. Then would come the cry for forgiveness.

That’s all too often been my experience — crying out to the Lord for help in some area, then feeling so proud of myself when someone shares with me how the Lord has used me in some way.

My dear mother-in-law once said that she had such a struggle with spiritual pride that she eventually began to stop doing any kind of ministry that could be seen by others. I understand that sentiment….yet, I don’t think that’s quite how the Lord would have us deal with this temptation.

It helps to remind myself that I’m just a conduit through which He can work. The glory doesn’t go to the pipe that brings water into the house!

It also helps to remind myself that since the glory for anything accomplished for the Lord is His, then I am stealing what isn’t rightfully mine when I want glory for myself. I also remind myself that that was Satan’s initial downfall.

I’ve been meaning for some time to put together a list of verses that will help keep the right perspective in this area, so I am going to do that here:

And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not. Jeremiah 45:5b.

And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? I Samuel 15:17.

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? I Corinthians 4:7.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Psalm 115:1.

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30.

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4: 6b, 10.

…Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. I Peter 5:5b-9.

10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 4:10-11.

Sundays

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I know that the New Testament doesn’t specify how to spend Sundays, though we’re told that believers met together then. As NT Gentile Christians we’re not under the OT stipulations about the Sabbath. But some years ago I came across the last few verses of Isaiah 58, and they profoundly affected my thinking about the Lord’s Day:

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

I began to realize that the “rules” concerning the OT Sabbath weren’t just about a day of rest from physical labor, though that was a part of it: but it was primarily a day for the Lord. There is a lot of emphasis in those verses on not doing “thine own pleasure,” but rather delighting in the Lord and in a day set aside for Him.

I had already been in the habit of not doing any work on Sundays other than what was necessary for meal preparation and clean-up (unless an emergency came up, like the time we came home church to find a leak had sprung in the pipe in the bathroom wall, or the Sunday morning before church when an upstairs bathroom overflowed and “rained” downstairs. We figured those were ox-in-the-ditch kinds of things. :))

But after discovering these verses, I began to take it a step further and tried to think of it as truly the Lord’s Day, and tried think of ways to truly make the day revolve around Him. As a wife and mom, I don’t think that passage means to close myself off in a room alone and spend great amounts of time in Bible reading and prayer. There may be seasons of life when that might be the case, but for now I don’t feel that’s the right application.

Of course, most of the day is taken up with church-related activities and meals. And for years Sunday afternoons have included a nap. I don’t function very well without a nap on Sunday afternoons, even though I don’t take an afternoon nap most other days. When our kids got old enough that they didn’t need a nap, they still had to do something quiet during that time. But Sunday evenings after the evening service I began to use for various restful and spiritual activities. Sometimes I would write letters (how is that spiritual activity done as unto the Lord, you might ask? Well, a lot of the day is given to “assembling yourselves together” with other believers, and writing is one way to communicate and minister. Even writing to lost loved ones is a ministry to them by letting them know you’re thinking about them). Sometimes I would play games with the kids. Sometimes I would read Christian books. As my kids have gotten older, sometimes we’ll all be in one room doing separate things (the older boys using laptops, the youngest playing, and I would be reading), and it’s cozy — we’ll comment to each other in-between what we’re doing. Sometimes now I’ll be on-line but restrict my reading to Christian sites.

Sunday evenings have become one of my favorite parts of the week. I love coming home from church knowing that I don’t “have” to toss laundry in (of course, that takes planning to get it done on other days) or “get things done.” I can just relax and enjoy it.

When afraid to surrender

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Sometimes we wrestle with the thought, “If I really surrender all to God, what will He do to me?” Even if we have made that surrender before, that thought can come at odd moments. After all, Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed as a teen-ager and has been in a wheelchair for, I think, 30-some years. Elisabeth Elliot lost not one, but two husbands. A dear professor had Lou Gehrig’s disease for over 20 years…our minds can go on and on with other examples we know.

There have been whole books written about reasons for suffering, and we hear testimonies of God’s grace through those times. Yet that lurking fear or reluctance can still snake into our thoughts.

As I was pondering these things this morning, the thought came, “What’s the alternative, really?” Suffering will come to most of us in some form or another. We live in a fallen world and deal with its effects; we’re not in heaven yet, where there are no tears, sorrow, pain. We’re not going to stop these things from coming into our lives if we don’t surrender to God. We can’t somehow insulate ourselves or protect ourselves from any pain or trial.

But if we are the Lord’s, we can trust that He has a purpose in what He has allowed. We can trust Him for His presence, peace, grace, and help. If we’re surrendered to Him, we can face these things in a way that we can’t otherwise.

One comment that stayed with me from a forgotten article about a trial a lady faced was this: “I was glad, when this happened, that He was not a stranger to me.” It’s certainly better to face a trial with Him rather than apart from Him. Sometimes He does work through the trials of life to bring people to Himself from their position as a stranger to Him, or to bring His children back from a backslidden position, or draw His children closer. But after that, we can “glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

We need not hold back our wills from the Lord for fear of what might happen. It’s futile to do so, really. But even aside from that, we can face whatever He sees fit to allow into our lives knowing that He will work all things together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28) and by relying on His promises:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (II Corinthians 12:8-10).