Painful Sabatoge

"God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us -
He does not build on any natural capacity of ours. 
He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace,
and that is where the cross we must bear will always come." ~Oswald Chambers~

"Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." ~Jesus Christ~

This struck me this morning as I was doing my reading...really made me stop and re-read it.  Ponder it.  Question it.  Turn it over and over, trying to find the justification to ignore this bit of wisdom from Mr. Chambers. I felt uncomfortable with his words AND I found it odd that this was the verse that he used to prove this particular point...about being used and abused by someone.  Directly preceeding this verse are the ones that say:

"Do not resist an evil person."

"If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also"

"If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well"

We live in a world that demands that we stand up and claim our rights.  We are taught that what is ours is ours...if we bought it, no one else can have it.  We are expected to be strong and don't give in.  Always look out for number 1.  Focus on what you want and then you can believe into being.

But... 

* What do we do when He calls us to let go of our rights? 

* To give up what we hold dear? 

* To let go of all that we control and not fight to get it back?

* To find that everything we did "right" is blowing up in our faces while all we can do is hold the pieces and cry? 

* What do we do when it goes wrong and heaven seems silent while the darkness laughs?

* When the answers don't come?

* When the path seems uphill?

* When doing the "right thing" goes completely contrary to all that is screaming out within our hearts?

* When it all seems dark?

The hardest part of this walk can be the walk itself.  Having to keep putting one foot in front of the other as the world blows up around us.  As the debris slams into our bodies, we are called to keep moving forward...to ignore the signs and signals that attempt to pull our eyes from our end result...to keep our eyes from moving from the fire burning in His instead of turning to focus on the landmines set to blow with our next step. 

Our enemy screams all around us as we walk forward and will continue until he either gets us off the path or realizes that he needs to come back again later.  He doesn't care that we cry or that we hurt...he doesn't care about us, he will use our hearts against us and he will push us to the brink of insanity.  BUT it is not sabatoge as he cannot act without permission...and if God has given His permission, then He knows that there is purpose in the pain that radiates thru us.

So...what do we do when everything we fight to maintain gets ripped from our hands and shredded in our plain sight?  As odd as it sounds, we should do what comes naturally in heartache:  Fall to our knees, wail and lay it all out...because the One who sits before us WILL hear our cries and He will respond on our behalf.  The hows and the whens are not ours to know...but the reality of His faithful Holiness is what we are to focus on as we give up trying to hold on...as we let go of control and focus on the healing of our own hearts.

"Ask and it will be given to you;  seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;

and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

~Jesus Christ~

Listening to Kari Jobe's Revalation Song (yes...again) while looking up as always...
~Bina~