"For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time. A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.
If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to "walk by faith." How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, "I cannot do anything else until God appears to me"? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, "Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!" Never live for those exceptional moments— they are surprises. God will give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life— our work is our standard."
This is very true for me. I must always be very critical of myself personally and my motives. I am very addicted to emotions and I always want the emotion of happiness and elatedness. If they are not present, then I am bored. I think that I must always have the inspiration of God at my back. However, it will never happen that way and it is a sure sign of immaturity on my part to demand it. It is a sure sign, as Chambers aptly noted, that I am seeking something other than God himself. And what usually brings those emotions of inspiration? They usually occur when something good happens in my life. That is goodness based on my definition of goodness. It is good for me to be rich. It is good for me to be healthy. It is good for me to be famous and well known. It is good for me to obtain and maintain a job. It is good for my stocks to rise because the Dow soars. It is good for me to have a wife and several children. And yet, when my job is lost, family is lost, riches usurped, and health in jeopardy, I somehow think this is not God's will for me because it makes me feel bad. And if it makes me feel bad, then it is surely not good.
No! If we believe in an all powerful, controlling, and knowing God, then we must be prepared to reconcile our "current situation" with the fact that it is God's will. We usually try to garner sympathy from others by pointing to how well we have been living. But, if we honestly critique our lives, we will see that what is happening to us is just what is needed to bring us into alignment with God's way. We may not like it, but we most assuredly will have to agree that what is happening in our lives is for the greater good. Paul writes in Romans 8:28, "And we know that IN ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ALL THINGS means ALL THINGS. That means through birth, death, health, sickness, marriage, divorce, job, no job, riches, and poor, God works for the good! Yet, we continue to balk at this truth. When we do so, we usurp God's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence! And that makes God a very little God indeed. Do we really want a small God whose hands are tied behind his back at times? This is why walking by faith and not our mortal, limited, and finite sight is crucial, so very crucial in growing an authentic relationship with God. May His peace be with you!
