To J-Bird and Lisa,
You have both exposed some important points that I do not wish to pass over, although my comments may not merely be directed to your posts per se, nor may they be applicable to Christian at this time.
Of course encouraging one to persevere, in itself, is not wrong. We have many examples of those who persevered against all odds - like Hudson Taylor, Praying Hyde, the apostle Paul.. etc. Sadly there are many in our churches who know nothing about perseverance. They desperately need some dynamite placed under them – to get them to dust off their Bibles, read for themselves, and learn to think.
But there are also those who do read the Bible faithfully, and they don’t need to be told to read more – especially if they already feel guilty for not reading enough.
Bible reading and prayer, though important disciplines, are not in themselves the virtues God seeks. In fact, they can become false dependencies. We trust in our efforts or our fleshly strength. We become dependent on them (ie, our efforts to maintain them) more than on God himself. Like any of our misplaced trusts, God may uproot them at some point in our lives, and pave the way for something better – himself. Then our disciplines take on a new life. Here’s an example:
Recently a Christian friend told me that her eyes have gone bad, and now she couldn’t read. She has always been an avid reader and student of scripture. I expressed my concern about this loss, and she responded, “I am learning to enjoy the Lord, without reading anything.”
Of course, as is my nature, I was tempted to offer some CD’s of SI sermons, which would have been just her “cup of tea”. However, the Spirit put a check on me, and I realized that it would have been sacrilegious to trample into that holy space God had created in her life – that was for him alone. This hard-working Christian lady needed to learn to persevere in REST: “Make every EFFORT to enter his REST” This is a very different kind of effort than fleshly effort. It is a surrendering of the old way and a grasping of the New Way - of the Spirit.
Indeed, God’s Word is our lifeline to the Father, but his word can come to us in ways other than reading the Bible and ritual prayer. For example, the Spirit can speak a verse or thought directly to our mind at any time of the day or night. And he can help us understand it. I know that from countless such experiences. God has even given me verses that I didn’t memorize, or he has given me specific references to look up.
So, while we encourage each other to trust God, we must always respect that God’s methods of developing deeper trust may be vary. What seem logical to us may not be God’s best way – for another or even for ourselves.
Now, does that make any sense?
Diane
