Rejoice while Waiting Pt. 2 - 2/25/2015

Rejoice while Waiting Pt. 2 - 2/25/2015

Hello Again!

I'm on a roll with these blog posts! Ok, well, I'm merely writing to express my feelings with a wider audience. Yesterday I shared with several people about my phone interview. They all had the same response, "Wow. That's interesting. And frustrating." The common consensus is that this was less than an interview and more of a conversation. Nothing exciting. Well, trying to hold on to hope yesterday didn't work. I gave into sin and allowed my frustration to become my life. I was hurt by the conversation, honestly. It was not the best conversation ever, but it was not the worst either. I often play it off as the worst conversation in history; that is simply not true. The man I spoke with is a brother in Christ and I care for him, deeply!

What happened yesterday though has happened before; there is a tough situation and I try and cover it up and make everything fine. I would say to myself, "Nothing is wrong. I'm fine." But something is wrong, incredibly wrong. I am, rather than living by the Word, living by my own word; which is very fallible. I had a wonderful morning of devotions and reading, but instead of fighting the rest of the day, I allowed this "good feeling" to try and carry me throughout the rest of the day. It seems right, almost holy, to do it this way. "I read the Bible! I prayed! I did everything you 'want,' Lord, why do I still hurt?" This was my constant plea last night.

"Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, 'Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.'" Proverbs 4:1-4 What caught my eye was the language about living; "keep my commandments, and live." First, the language of living has to do with being physically alive. And second, it has to with being spiritually alive; being alive in the Spirit. Keeping the commandments of God results in being truly alive (1 John 2:3) But, third, as one commentator notes about Prov. 2:18, "In wisdom literature, "life" is not mere existence, but a way characterized by true relationships that conform to God's design." Yes, conforming to God's design is obeying his commandments, but it is significant to note that it has the language of relationships. In this passage, Prov. 4:1-4, it is a father speaking to his son, and then God to his children. A good relationship bears fruit of the Spirit, but a bad relationship kills fruit.

It is also interesting to note that listening is a key aspect of being wise. Verse 4 reads, "he taught me and said to me, 'Let your heart hold fast my words...'" Also, at the very beginning of the chapter, "Hear, O sons..." The means by which wisdom comes about is passive; meaning that it is by an outside source; namely God. It is not by anything we do or say. More appropriately, it is the less of what we do, and it is the more of how we listen. And the more we listen, the better we will be. But, listening is not entirely passive. Yes, the act of listening is passive, but that does not mean that we are entirely passive. We are given commands, "...keep my commandments, and live." Listening produces keeping, and keeping produces living, and living produces wisdom and godliness.

Now, how does this affect my life, or your life? It means that we must continue to listen to our heavenly Father. We must be passive for a time. It is the first step to holiness. But, lest we fall into a passive sin like mine, we must then step forward in life. As I return to my new favorite author, William B. Barclay, he is writing about Paul's contentment. He specifically writes about how we can obtain contentment. It's not just a thing that Paul can be because of his spiritual loftiness. He makes note of the the verb "learned" found in verse 12. It has the context of learning something secret. Barclay writes, "Paul's use of this verb indicated that contentment does not come naturally. Not only must contentment be learned, but learning contentment is contrary to our normal (and sinful) ways of thinking." Learning is passive, right? We are to be taught first, but then teaching is useless unless we implement it into our lives.

So, what I leave you with is that we must strive, even in the most depressing times, and even we are on a "spiritual high," to continue to be a student of the Word that implements the teaching we receive. By grace, we will receive wisdom. By grace, we will live. By grace, and only by grace, will be like God. Keep listening to the Word of God, but do not just sit there, move! 

Thank you!