God's order, his pleasure, his will, his action and grace; all these are one and the same. The purpose on earth of this divine power is perfection.
God's order and his divine will, humbly obeyed by the faithful, accomplishes this divine purpose in them without their knowledge in the same way as medicine obediently swallowed cures invalids who neither know nor care how. Just as it is fire and not the philosophy or science of that element and its effects that heats, so it is God's order and his will which sanctify and not curious speculations about its origin and purpose.
To quench thirst it is necessary to drink. Reading books about it only makes it worse. Thus, when you long for sanctity, speculation only drives it further from our grasp. We must humbly accept all that God's order requires us to do and suffer.
All we need to know is how to recognize his will in the present moment. Grace is the will of God and his order acting in the center of of our hearts when we read or are occupied in other ways; theories and studies, without regard for the refreshing virtue of God's order, are mere dead letters, emptying the heart by filling the mind.
Without God's direction, all is void, emptiness, vanity, words, superficiality, death.
Every moment, and in respect of everything, they must say, like St. Paul, "Lord, what should I do?"
It is by being united to the will of God that we enjoy and possess him, and it is a delusion to seek this divine possession by any other means. Being united to God is the only way, not in any specific manner or style, but in a thousand different ways, and one he chooses for us is the best.
I must not, like the quietists, reduce all religion to a denial of any specific action, despising all means, since what makes perfection is God's order, and the means he ordains is the best for the soul. No, we must set no bounds or limits or shape to the will of God. (pp.200-203)
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, ""Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." (Genesis 22:1-2)One of my first experiences of walking in the Spirit of God came at work. Up to that point, I had found myself resisting work by trying to do other things that I considered better. Some of them were better because they were more entertaining, some of the them more religious. I was not seeking to be faithful in my work.
I began praying for my supervisors and praying Ephesians 5 about treating those over me as I would treat the Lord. I began to see that I was not working only for my supervisors and employer, but primarily for God. I realized that when I worked to please God, I could easily please my supervisors as well.
The change is not easy, At first, I was convinced that God wanted me to be miserable. I was willing to be miserable, however, if it pleased him. However, I began to find that I could have joy in my work because it was work for him. Also, such attention to the details of my work have developed my skills, increased my endurance, brought joy to my coworkers (some) and supervisors, and made me care about my work and its outcome. Joy in work seems to be fairly rare as is evident from the constant complaints and job hatred I run into all the time.
I am not all the way there. I have many habits that come easily and automatically that I have to work out of. One of my recent struggles has been with looking for ways to obey and submit rather than looking for ways to escape and dodge the rules and expectations of my employers. I found that generally it is harder to disobey and be ever concerned about being "caught" or having to justify my actions than it is to just obey.
I also found that if I submit to everything except the things that are against God, my true employer, then I have very little that I can rightfully complain about or object to. There may be many things that are inconvenient or even silly, but they are not really bad, just not what I want.
This is where walking in the Spirit is so essential. It cannot be a mere "mind trick." Just thinking that God is my boss and having him really direct and guide me in work and life are completely different. One is delusional, the other practical. I write a lot about "my end" of the work, but without God's end of it - his grace- all of my work means nothing and should earn me nothing by scorn.
I think think is one of the things that Jean-Pierre is criticizing. Talking about fire will never warm me. Thinking there is fire when there isn't is mental illness. Warmth comes from experiencing fire. For some reason, I do like to content myself talking about God rather than seeking and finding him. Probably this has to do with the ever-present idea that God will spoil what I want and what I want is what is most important.
Further, Jean-Pierre attacks the idea that I must try to get out of things that I am dealing with to be happy or even to find God. Instead, I need to try to get into the things that are happening in my life, because that is where the Spirit is at work. Instead of trying to escape many of the moments I am faced with - whether boredom or pain or frustration or sadness - I need to find what the will of God is in that situation and do it.
Many times I escape dealing with my life by worrying about things that I have little to do with. This is where the Serenity prayer comes in handy: "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." The special relationship each person has with God is embedded in the life they lead. Each life provides the perfect blocks and experiences to find God and live in his will, his kingdom, which is full of love, joy, and peace. Each experience can bring such movements of grace if I realize that God has a purpose for each moment.
The Holy Spirit, then, is present in my life as I live it So easily I am tempted to try to obtain guidance, power, or joy in the Spirit by changing my life rather than living it. There are changes that need to be made, but this is not what I talking about. I am talking about the things that Are set before usually on a daily basis: working at my joy and at home, loving my wife and kids, serving at church and in the community, dealing with frustrations and having celebrations, etc. All of these things are the doorways in which the Spirit can enter and transform me. I guess that I the reason I avoid living these mundane aspects of life is that I want change that will be faster, greater, or more noticeable to myself and others. Jean-Pierre says this is not only a possible way to walk with the Spirit, but really it is the only way to walk in the Spirit.
Lord, the life you have given to me is a blessing. Certainly many things have gone "well" for me, but even more my life, like everyone else's, is a place in which I can walk with you in the Spirit and receive specific training and growth toward the destiny you have for me. May I be found useful. I depend on you each moment to show me how to live this life. Amen.
I find myself seeking God's will in each situation. I find myself asking, "What should I do, Lord?" I find that I have resistance to asking and seeking because I hope somehow to live my life as I please. This is disaster. I am not made to live my live by myself for myself any more than I am made to live my whole life in a cave. I have been made with a dependency on the Lord, to be filled with his Spirit as a jar is filled with treasure or wine. I need to be filled each moment as God guides me in each moment until I do what he wants without thinking about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment