"27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29That no flesh should glory in his presence." (1 Corinthians 1: 27-29)
I have seen so much goodness in learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the four accounts of which grant us different insights into the wonderful God who became man, Jesus!
I have found that from time to time a sense of condemnation still weighs on me. When nothing seems to be happening, I would get flustered, then I would get really angry. This sense of "I have to be doing something" would weigh very heavily on me."
It was unbearable. Just yesterday, I found myself too tired to do the writing and reading which I had planned on accomplishing. I was so sad, then I became desperate and fearful.
How true it is. People have been telling me that I work too hard.
A sense within me had taken hold of me for so long. If I wasn't doing something, I was not doing enough. This chronic nagging has overtaken me from time to time.
Where did this sense of condemnation about "Must Do! Must Do!" come from?
It came from Alcoholics Anonymous:
"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of
action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol
is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily
reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is
a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities.
"How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." (pg. 85)
"We must carry the vision" -- hustle! Hustle!
Hustle!
Get busy! Do stuff! Do not rest!
Three pages letter, we read:
"We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for
we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange
life to suit ourselves. It works - it really does. We alcoholics are
undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just
outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action. "Faith without
works is dead." (pg. 88)
"There is action and more action." Get busy! Must
work! Must busy myself!
WRONG!
That's not the Gospel.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
If God sends His Son to give you life, then you must accept that you had no life to begin with. How can a dead man do anything?!
In fact, even before the fall of man, God intended his "very good" creation to rest, and by resting God can work through Him!
"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden
of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Genesis 2:15)
The word "put" is actually "lay to rest" or "cause to rest".
We need to understand how our loving Daddy has placed us in a finished word, and He invites us to enjoy and guard it.
How cool is that?
Check out Naomi's comforting advice to Ruth:
"Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?" (Ruth 3:1)
It's about seeking rest, a recognition that He is on the job for us!
We need to get off this jag that we have something to offer God!
We can do nothing apart for Him!
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)
All of this militantly opposes the AA mentality, which is "work, work, work"! The whole AA cult is turned into "Do things for God."
We can't do anything for Him. He provides us all things ... through His Son:
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)
We live through Him, not through our own efforts:
"1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4)
and
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9)
In fact, God's heart for us is revealed in John's Third Letter:
"Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers." (3 John 2)
For me, these revelations are new and necessary.
For the longest time, I have been convinced, pressures, pressed upon to make all things happen. If I wasn't doing something, then nothing was getting done. I also faced the perverse hardship that certain opportunities were not happening, or worse that I would miss God's opportunities in my life.
Now I know that that is no longer the case. We are too close for that kind of thing. He grants me life, and His life leads me and guides me in all things. I used to think that I had a set opportunity every time that I went out into the world to reach out to "someone." Some days, I would go home at the end of the evening, feeling very depressed and unhappy, because I did not find and work with that "divine appointment."
Now I have learned that God is giving me all things to begin with. It's not about me doing anything for God--it's all about God doing all things in and through Me.
The more that I rest, the less that I strive, the more that I am able to let Him accoplish so much through me. Therefore, I do not have to worry about struggling for results to occur in my life. It's His life, to begin with, and He is working all things to come about in me:
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1:6)
Let's walk by grace, not by our flesh, our self-effort. Reject the cult of man, the rat race, of the religious world, AA include.
Let us rest that He may work in us!!