Running in the Dark

A life with Christ is so unrelentingly difficult must of the time. One week things seem to be strategically and organizationally in order and ready for a straight and easy path, yet the next may seem to lead down a road of winds, turns, and dark places that would paralyze even the strongest of men and mock any pride within. Making a shift in the spirit to produce a godly example even in the midst of this kind of turmoil seems unrealistic and even improbable at times. How on earth can I seem to be the leader that God has called me to be even in the midst of these trials. These decisions. How they haunt my every waking moment and cause me to need, yet I somehow seem to find no time to plead with the fulfiller of all needs for strength. How immeasurable is His grace and how inscrutable are His ways, yet I am just a man and how measurable is my wisdom. However, I trust in the Lord that by seeking and asking for wisdom He is faithful to provide as He spoke through His faithful servant James. It is a task too great to undertake alone, and for me and my soon to be wife it seems that most of the time we are trying to do it alone, even through our best effort to portray otherwise. Where is our hope if it is not in the Lord? Where is our strength if it is not in our God? How can a man stand face to face with a giant likened unto Goliath and defeat it without the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord of Hosts on his side? I tell you, it is impossible. Therefore, the best thing to remember when running in the dark, is that there is One who sees when you of course do not.

"A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?"

- Proverbs 20:24

Praise be to You, God of all things. You know all, own all, and hold with the power of our Word. All glory, honor, and praise be to your name.

Amen

Gospel

It floors me each week to stand behind a microphone and teach this incredible, majestic story of our God; this irresistible, unbelievable gospel that has called and whispered to all of the souls of mankind for thousands of years. Yet, the tragedy stands in the fact that many people seem to be continuously and monotonously, week in and week out, unmoved by the ground-shaking story that we claim to be a part of. How can a true encounter with the Almighty God result in such lukewarm, passive response? How can the Christ that passionately poured His life out for thirty-three years only to be mocked, smitten and despised by His own creation be reduced to merely a "good moral teacher" or even worse a weak, powerless, tame peasant rather than the fierce, raging lion that scripture depicts Him as. How terrifying it is to my soul that we have succeeded in domesticating the gospel. The gospel is radical. The gospel is full of blood, violence, and sacrifice. Our God was humiliated, stricken, and afflicted by men under "the power of darkness" Luke 22:53  to be referred to as a good guy? God forbid! He is much more than a moral man, he is the incarnation of our God, the first and the last, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. John 1:1; Isaiah 44:6; Col. 1:15 All things are held together by the word of His power, the exact imprint of God's nature, the radiance of the glory of God. Heb. 1:3  Yet, if we claim to know these truths than how can we seem so unshaken. So incredibly complaisant. If we truly understood our God it would be very difficult to be satisfied by the things of this world. King David quotes,

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.... My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food." - Psalm 63; 1,5

Is it possible that we cannot utter the words of David because we are so completely satisfied with the things of this world that it is impossible for us to be satisfied with God? Is is possible that we are not hungering and thirsting for righteousness because we have already been quenched by other things? The gospel should be ever before us, ever changing us, ever transforming us, and ever challenging us to press harder to become more like Christ and less like ourselves. The gospel transforms. It brings to light the wickedness inside of us, yet calls us upward out of our sins into the hand of the Father. How marvelous the light of the gospel truly is in the face of Christ Jesus. I see a generation that seeks the gospel in its rawest and truest form and does so unapologetically; a generation of young people that seek to bring glory and renown to the name of the only true God and that will do so at whatever cost to their own reputation. I pray for a generation to rise to take their place as sons and daughters of the Most High King, despising the very thought of living as if this world was our reward. We seek a city that is not of this world. The city we seek, this world is not worthy of, and we shall pursue it with all that Christ works powerfully within us. O God, create in this generation a pure heart and a hunger for the things that you would have us do. Let us despise the things you despise and adore the things you adore. Transform us to live out this glorious gospel you have given us; to bear fruit and so prove to be your disciples. Create in us a new heart. Make the gospel real in us.