26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:26-28, New King James Version)
That is a major comfort to know.
There are days that I wish the earth would open up and just swallow me up and why? Maybe I headed out of the door, lost in getting the kids ready, making sure we have everything, only to realize later there was a huge stain on my shirt.
Or maybe, having to deal with something that I really don’t want to deal with, because truth is, I’m not a confrontational type-Cowering type yes, but confrontations leave me feeling small and tongue tied.
And her words, Lysa’s, spoked out:
Isn’t it glorious how nature doesn’t resist God? Sadly, too many of God’s people cannot say the same.
Several good questions get thrown our way:
- “Why do I often want to settle for less than what God has for me?
- “What if I truly lived today completely obedient to God’s Word and in tune with His voice?”
- “What if before every choice I make today, I held up my options to the Lord and chose obedience over convenience and righteousness over my rights”.
As Lysa shared these and some other pretty convicting questions, it was hard not to feel that whimper in my heart, going, uhm, not me, no no no, not me, nope, not gonna happen. Not me.
A lot of not me, but He calls all of us to be in service to Him and often it’s in the simple acts that we do, but yet we resist, but when you look at His world, the seeds that are planting, they don’t resist. They shoot up from the ground to face whatever that nature has for them and perservere and some may not reach their full potential but that doesn’t stop them.
Instead.
They work around it, find other ways.
Look at the vines.
Yes those pesky vines that seem to find a way, even in concrete to just grow with persistance, but yet, with us, ourselves, we choose, the road that is taken, and well beaten down by everyone else and yet, when God calls us to take the path not taken, oh how do we just fight and resist at the slightest challenge, even if it’s so much as just taking a step.
I know.
I am the same.
I whimper and go, “Lord, wow, I want to serve You, but I think I’m going to hide under the bed instead”. Now two things can happen, He will keep pursuing till we give voluntarily or you know the story of “Jonah and the Whale” and what happen there.
I love what was shared by Lysa about Lisa Spence who wrote,“…choosing contemptment when the world tells me to strive for accomplishment. Only He could bring me to do this. Only He can show me the great joy of doing everything-everything and anything!- for His Glory. Only He is worth more than any joy of this world, even writing Bible studies or speaking at women’s events! Only He is worthy and only He is worthy laying it all down, all of it!”
Wow. Can we say that ourselves?
This a reminder that the more we choose to follow Jesus not because it’s popular or everyone else is doing it, but because, we, you, me, ourself, chooses to want to have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to fall everyday more and more in love with Him, to just obey Him, have Him in our lives, pursue that experience and in and through Him, become a beacon of light, a lighthouse to HIM, not to us, or what we want, but to HIM and to HIS calling, talk about an amazing experience that is.
And an adventerous and even scary for some.
For me, I am so so so so so soooooooooo dealing with issues of shyness, and feeling of awkwardness that I don’t or can’t measure up to anyone.
I tend to be an introvert because I have a hard time dealing with being part of social groups and find myself freezing up and not knowing what to say or do and feeling like my feet and my tongue just trips me up and sometimes it’s just easier for me to try and blend into the background and say nothing at all because I feel I have nothing really of true worth to share.
Then Lysa has to throw out what I have to call the “EEEEK” question.
“Why not ask God to reveal Himself to you in the coming days and confirm exactly what He has for you?
OOOOooooo….aaahhhh….Uhhhmmm….I can deal easily with this question about asking God to reveal Himeslf to me in the coming days and confirm exactly what He has for me, but the trouble is this. I know I will be hiding under the bed when that happens. “Yes Lord, I’m here, just hanging out with the dust bunnies”, I would call out from under the bed.
The blessing is that sometimes, God doesn’t throw us into a whale and say, “Guess what”, but gives us time; Time to understand our purpose and it’ll, like a seed, unfold slowly.
Whatever He calls you, me, us, anyone to do, it’s a comfort that He does require us to allow His Greatness to enter us and to change us and this is a continual process, sometimes not overnight, sometimes it is.
It’s my personal prayer, that whatever He calls me to do, He can also give me strength and courage to follow too. The dust bunnies keep making me sneeze.
published: February 16th 2010 by Thomas Nelson (first published 2010)
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