Monday, July 31, 2006

Tell that Mikey

James says that not believing God to be soveriegn over the future details of your life is arrogance. The way to battle this arrogance is to yield to the soveriegnty of God in all areas of life., and rest in His infallible promises to show Himself mighty on our behalf, to persue us with goodness and mercy every day, to work for those who wait for Him, to supply us with all we need to live for His glory. In other words the remedy for pride is unwavering faith in future grace.
Future Grace-John Piper, P93

How i needed those words today. And how arrogant it is to worry about the future. How much i need to tell my soul that God has got my life sorted, that He has ordered my every thought, that He is knitting all things together for my good. We can not lean on our own understanding, or boast in our own knowledge. As soon as we worry about the future, in whatever form that worry may take, we start to display a breathtaking arrogance and self perceived, self sufficiecy. How i long to really live between the lines of 'Amazing Grace'; 'twas grace that bought me safe thus far (well it was, it sure enough wasn't me, so look back and be greatful and rejoice and sing to the Lord) and grace will lead me home' (God is the same yesterday today and forever, and, well, look at the above!). How liberating it would be, how liberating those moments are to live by that faith. For that faith to empower and inspire our good works, and liberate us from the chains of worry, and the sin of pride.

5 comments:

nicola louise said...

mandy, you're alive! hurrah! mmm good point. how much to wait entirely on God and how much to use the things He gives us (including brains) to make decisions for ourselves? i guess trusting is an attitude as much as an act though.

Ed Goode said...

'seek first the kingdom of God and things will be added to you'. Sure, we have responsibility to seek and listen, and act on that, but i think trusting is as much an act as seeking and listening. Its more passive than the other two, but no less important.
Like, i was telling my mum today 'will you stop worrying about it, its all sorted' re: walking the dog, and it struck me how analogeous that was.
Trusting isn't just 'letting go and letting God' its having faith that God will fulfill His promises to His glory, and not expending our energy in proud worry or anxiety.

(mandy, are you going to be fam-tastic any time soon?)

nicola louise said...

that possibly didn't make sense. what i mean is, we probably shouldn't be sitting around waiting for manna from heaven when we have money to buy food from the shops. i think.

Ed Goode said...

I don't think what i said made much sense!
I think you're spot on Nicola, the hard thing is finding the balance between faithfully waiting on the Lord, and faithfully stepping out in faith.
God's given us what we need to make the decision, we just need to make sure we're listening.

nicola louise said...

i meant mine didnt make sense! but you sneakily posted in the middle while i was pondering. ho ho.