On our own strength??

I would venture a guess that an age old challenge many Christians face is that we try to do things in our own strength rather than relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. Whether it is trying to make it through a work day, or responding in grace to a difficult family member, or facing the fear of the unknown of a health issue, don't we often try to control the situation and go it alone? In our foolish ways, though in the moment it somehow seems wise, we think "I can do this, I don't need God."

Today we began reading the book of Ezekiel for our Daily Walk Bible reading and I was struck by the challenge the Lord gave to the prophet Ezekiel. At the very beginning God made it clear that Ezekiel was being sent to speak to a stubborn people. He said,

^{7 "}But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn" (New Living Translation).

In an act of grace, God prepared Ezekiel for this daunting task by providing him with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures say that "the Spirit lifted me up" (3:12) and then in verse 14 Ezekiel again recounts how "the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord's hold on me was strong." How many times do we go about our own ways, never even giving the Spirit a chance to "lift us up"?

I was curious by what exactly Ezekiel meant by the Spirit lifting him up and taking him away so I turned to John Calvin who didn't answer this question, but gave me even more to chew on and ponder. The quote is long, but worth it!

"So, God stirs him up when he speaks of their stubbornness. And just as it was helpful that the prophet perceive how difficult the undertaking of his appointed task was, so also it is fitting that he was armed with the power of God, otherwise he would have yielded too easily to the difficulty of his task.

In this way he was warned that strength was to be expected from somewhere else, and that he should not consider his own strength, but instead allow himself to be governed by the Spirit of God. To be sure whenever we reflect on the kind and number of our own abilities, it can happen that we melt and lose strength, or at least wither a bit, so that we do not courageously carry out our office. ...

Even though this seems to have been spoken only once and only for Ezekiel's own benefit, it actually belongs to all of us. ... we ought to rest in the promised power, which God here holds up with no empty words. Therefore, whoever acknowledges that God is enough to overcome all barriers prepares bravely for work. But whoever dwells on estimating their own strength, not only is weakened, but already is defeated.

We see here that we are encouraged to humility and modesty, so that we do not attribute anything to our own strength...Thus we should learn to ask God alone for the courage we lack. We are not superior to Ezekiel. If it was fitting for him to be strengthened by the Spirit of God, how much more do we need it today" (bold emphasis is mine, Reformation Commentary on Scripture, XII - Ezekiel, Daniel, page 27, IVP (C) 2012).

Tonight and tomorrow and the rest of our days, may we ask God for the courage that we need to face and do the tasks that loom over us. And may we acknowledge that God is more than powerful to work in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit! 

May we trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding (nor on our own power) but in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will make our paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6). 

Object Lessons

In our Daily Walk Bible reading we’ve been blazing through the book of Jeremiah and again I am thankful for how God’s Word is applicable to our every day lives and how I see similar Biblical principles in my own life and experiences.

Recently I have been challenged by the various “object lessons” that the prophet Jeremiah used with his audience. These object lessons have in turn made me more aware of my own surroundings and the teachable moments that my own world can provide. For example, after work today I was visiting a friend who was graciously looking for a pair of vice grips for me in her father’s garage and while she was looking I was watching the sheep graze and meander around in their yard. All of a sudden I heard this crash of metal on metal sound and my first thought was that somehow the sheep got out through the gate. I ran over to the window hoping I wasn’t going to have to run out into the yard to corral the sheep back and what did I find?

A sheep caught with its head stuck in the metal gate. What I quickly realized was the sound I heard was the sheep forcing its head through the gate bars thus causing the metal gate to crash against the metal gate-posts. And why was the sheep sticking his head through the bars?

Because “the grass was greener on the other side.” Or at least, that is what it seemed because the sheep had no care that its head was stuck, all it cared about was eating the grass that it could barely reach. Clearly, the sheep saw something it wanted and was willing (knowingly or unknowingly) to do whatever it took to get to it. Even if that meant getting its head caught in the gate.

Meanwhile by this time my friend had ventured down to her father’s basement still looking for the vice grips and I was getting anxious that we were going to have to rescue this little guy and then all of a sudden the sheep became a contortionist and wrenched its head out from the bars. The sheep was safe and sound and it had its taste of “the greener grass,” but it also paid the price for this tasty morsel with the cost of a sore head and neck.

This situation got me thinking…don’t we regularly think in our lives that the “grass is greener on the other side?” And when we think that way, don’t we unfortunately act on those thoughts and therefore put ourselves into precarious, even sinful situations?

“Lead us not into temptation…”

Tonight, as I was doing a little catch up reading in Jeremiah chapters 16-20 I was again challenged by the life object lessons that Jeremiah used with his audience. Namely, marriage, funerals and feasting (16:1-9), the potter and the clay (18:1-10) and the garbage dump and the broken pot (chapter 19).

I would encourage you to take some time to read about these and the other object lessons that Jeremiah used (for example, 13:1-11, 12-14; 14:1-9; 24:1-10; 27:1-11; 32:6-15 and 43:8-13). How could these object lessons apply to your life?

What object lessons is the Lord using in your own life? Are these lessons, and their situations, turning us toward the Lord or away from the Lord?

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Amen! Thank you Jesus!

(Thanks to these two blogs for these images...the sheep can be found here and the potter picture can be found here. I just want to make sure I am giving credit where credit is due! :) As it turns out in the picture above, the sheep's head was not stuck...but this was the best picture I could find. I assure you the poor little guy I wrote about was definitely stuck but is now free.)