Unsatisfied By Average

The Musings of a Stubborn Believer

Category: impossible (page 2 of 2)

Nevertheless!

Isaiah 14/15
I have been silent, but not still… Yesterday was the climax of the Texico Conference Campmeeting, and my viola was out of its case more than in it, precluding a post.
And then, there were other reasons too… 
I’m the kind of guy that expends a great deal of energy on invisible conquest. In fact, most of the people I fight for don’t even know it. (Maybe never will). But that’s ok…  
Anyway, all day, and all this morning, verse 1 of chapter 14 kept tapping at my consciousness, waiting for quiet… And finally, I got it.
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“For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel…”
Even though they had stumbled and fallen. Even though He had picked them up and brushed the dirt off of them countless times before. Even though their mistakes were not always innocent ones… Still…
Still.
I cannot tell you what that means to me. Even though He’s picked me up out of the dirt ten thousand times, yet He has mercy. Yet He chooses me. Does that even make sense?
It reminds me of my favorite word. “Nevertheless.”
Actually, it’s the reason behind my favorite word. Because His unwavering commitment to my salvation (nevertheless) calls forth the best I can give in return… 
If His “faith” in me is strong enough to make Him pick me up again when I fall, risking His name over and over again by claiming me as His child, then I am worse than a fool not to honor Him with my trust in return. 
And so, am I a man committed. 
And though I admit that for the Christian in this world, pain and hardship, toil, sacrifice, grief and loss and suffering are very real, very often… (here comes that word–)  
Nevertheless!!!

No more fretting.

Isaiah 13
Victory is promised…
In fact, the more haughty and seemingly invincible the enemy, the more thorough it’s destruction in the end.
Every power under heaven is ultimately subordinate to His master plan…
Uuuhh, why was I fretting??

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Who’s Talking?

Isaiah 7
The promises in the Word are oft contradicted by apparent reality; oft challenged by the words and works of earthly men and mandates. 
And sometimes our doom seems so certain, our hearts quake like trees in the wind… After all, these threats of our enemies are certainly substantiated by their successes in times past…
But wait a minute. Look who’s talking.
These foes so formidable– are they not but dust before our Maker? 
And the Author of the Word– is He not Authority Supreme? And is it not He Himself Who says: (v.7) “It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.”?? 
Ahhh, it is. 
So don’t be afraid. Ever. 

“Look Who’s talking!”

Mine Eyes Have Seen…

Isaiah 6
“Mine eyes have seen the King…”
Dreadful, exultant, awesome phrase. 
But the young prince is afraid. It is after all, a dreadful, exultant, and awesome scene that has opened before him. 
Pictures this: (seriously, try.)
The Almighty God seated high on His throne; the Seraphs (literally: “Burning things”) hovering over Him while they shield their own faces; the entire temple, the massive, glorious palace of the Infinite God, trembling to its foundations at the voice of His announcer; the whole glorious place filled with white smoke because the very air must praise Him… And the entire scene wrapped, and filled, and bursting with a soundtrack like you’ve never heard…
Wow. 
But Isaiah didn’t die. Even though he thought he would…
Because those who submit to the work of grace in their lives have another option. 
Transformation. 

That’s the one I want…

Something Impossible…

Home again, after two weeks away… 
I’ve decided something– Well, I knew it before, but I’m sure now. 
There’s nothing worth more than ministry. Service is absolutely priceless…
If you haven’t tried it lately, you cannot know…
There’s something unutterably thrilling about doing your earnest part to prepare, then losing all your work at the last minute, and finding yourself on your knees saying: “Ok, what did You want me to say…”
-Something incredibly fulfilling (the ultimate “filling you full” experience) about trembling on your knees 5 seconds before taking the pulpit, then standing up to perfect confidence… 
-Something life changing about watching lives change before your very eyes…
-Something mind boggling about preaching for an hour, then having no idea what you said… (No credit to you!)
-Something priceless about standing in front of scores of young people for whom you have been given a great love, and watching the tears flow while you sing (and try to check your own)… 
There’s something eternal, something unequivocally impossible- the work of transcendent grace and unbounded love- about being used as a mouthpiece for Heaven itself– for God Himself… 
Especially when you remember that you are really proud, and selfish, and mean, and arrogant, sluggish, short-sighted, poor, miserable, blind, and naked, at your best…
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Now, does ministry always look like that?
No, but even if it did only once every two lifetimes, the lifetime spent without would be more than worth it….
And even if it never did, there’s something magnificent about giving and never getting anything in return…
The books will be balanced in Heaven.  
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