This note is only a prelude to a blog that I will be writing later but I don’t think I have ever thought so hard about a blog or been so concerned about how what I typed would come across. I guess the reason I am so concerned is because I think the topic is very important to everyone who calls themselves a Christian. This topic calls for a lifestyle change for many and even more, it calls for a mindset change. This topic calls for us to allow God to take all of us. As you look through scripture you don’t find many people saying, “God just take this part of me” and those who were lukewarm and didn’t come to Christ whole heartedly were scolded. In order to say that we are fully sold out to God we must allow God to test us because scripture says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13 ESV) I had a professor who said that in scripture all means all and that’s all that all means. Paul is clear that all who want to follow Christ will be persecuted, not some, not a few, not the dads, it clearly says ALL.
This all leads me to the statement that church goers everywhere have said and it goes like this, “Don’t pray for patience because God might just give it to you.” When you pray for a loved one to be healed from sickness do you want God to answer that prayer request? When you pray or have prayed that God would bring that special someone into your life did you want God to answer that prayer request? When you pray that God will lay out his will in your life do you want God to answer that prayer request? You may be thinking duh why would I be praying if I didn’t want God to answer the prayer requests but therein lies the problem. We want God to give us all the good things in life but we won’t dare pray that God would test us. We don’t want to pay a price for all that he gives us and we, “Mistake our happiness for blessing” as Caedmon’s Call would put it. As long as we are living a good life and getting good things then we are happy with God, but Scripture NEVER says that the Christian walk will be all butterflies and rainbows. Actually, scripture promises the exact opposite. 2nd Timothy says that we will be persecuted. James 1 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3 ESV)
So this leads me to another question why aren’t we praying for patience? Why aren’t we praying that God would test us? We should be begging God to give us trials so that we can prove ourselves worthy of the calling to which he has called us. This comes down to more than just the issue of patience but the whole mentality of praying that God gives us all the good without the bad. If we look at the early Christians they rejoiced in their sufferings because in their weakness God’s name was made known. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” and prayed that God would remove it three times but in the end God said, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong...” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV) Wow and hello scripture (that was even a wakeup call for me at 12:28AM), when was the last time I was thinking about how God was made strong when I am at my worst? Isn’t it all about me? That is at least what our culture wants us to think. I heard a pastor by the name of Walt Barnes say, this summer that the reason the church of Laodicea in Revelation is lukewarm is because they put their focus on themselves and not on God. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) The people of Laodicea had lost sight of what the main thing was. Look at all the I’s in this passage. Good gracious people, where is their focus? Where is our focus?
I say all this to say that this summer I went into camp very full of myself. I looked at my personality, my abilities, my experience, and I had no reason to doubt that I was going to be a good camp staffer. I knew that I could very easily go about camp this past summer and in the flesh do just about everything that was required of me. I could be the outgoing staffer, I could be the knowledgeable Bible Study Leader, and I could be the organized Track Time Leader because I was gifted at those things. However, at the beginning of the summer I prayed that God would use this experience and make it all about Him and not about me. Now I said at the very beginning of this blog that this was a prelude to a future blog and the future blog will be about learning brokenness before God because the summer was all about Him. When you pray for God to test you He will do it, but the beauty of it all is that in our weakness God is made strong. In our weakness we have nothing to boast about but God himself. The reason we need to change our mindset from that of how much can we get to what can I endure for Christ is because His name is made evident. So, I want to end this blog with a few questions. Where is your focus? Are you so busy seeking God’s hands that you are missing his face? and do you trust God enough to pray that he will be glorified in your weakness?
