Passion Defined

“If God gives you a watch, are you honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is, or by simply consulting the watch?” ~ A.W. Tozer


Someone shared this quote with me awhile back, but it wasn’t until recently that I looked at it and really began to ponder its beautiful truth. We all have times in life when we come up with great ideas, or see wonderful opportunities, or find new possibilities to somehow bring something better to life (our lives, or others’). God often uses these times, ideas and opportunities to build us stronger, draw us closer, and even to greatly encourage others. But many times there are things in life that we may want that may simply not be God’s will or that might be His will, but simply might not be the right time. This quote was very timely for me because it seems I’m always struggling to wait upon the Lord and rest in what I know to be His will for me in life. I go back and forth between contentment and impatience, knowing what God says in His Word, but still wrestling for some opportunity to get what I want now; still asking about the time instead of looking at the watch.

We all have those “watch” moments. God has us in a place in life, He’s given us a watch, but we don’t use it for its intended purpose. Are we using it for the reason it was given to us, or are we always asking Him what time it is? God gives us exactly what we need for the time that it is now, but we somehow still seem to forget that what we’ve been given is enough. For me, my biggest struggle always seems to boil down to the fact that I might be given a vision and a hope for something down the road and truly feel that it’s good and right, but still want more than what I can have. It’s like I’m trying to see beyond the perfect amount of light the lamp sheds on the path, instead of trusting that the lamp’s glow illuminates only what I need to see for just the next steps. God’s given us a watch to tell us what time it is now. He’s given us a lamp that shows us where to step for now. Trying to see beyond that light or asking God what time it is when we’ve been given what we need to know for now is trying to step beyond His plan and know more than what God in His sovereignty and love has shown us for this moment.

When God has given you the watch and provided what you need to know what time it is, do you consult the watch in faith, or do you ask God what time it is? It brings me pain to admit that there are times when I might know in my spirit exactly what time it is, but I still ask God what the clock reads, as if there were some way He would make my will His will instead of making His will my own. Some moments are almost as if I angrily demand the time, just as the clock is striking with the answer. Ultimately, it all comes back to faith. Do we really trust that what God has given us is best? Do we really believe that His grace is sufficient? Are we fully convinced that He is honored most when we trust Him completely and do what He has told us? Or do we question what we know and what we’ve already been told in His Word?

Consult the watch; don’t ask God what time it is, but rather ask Him how you can better serve and please Him in the time and place that He has you. Ask Him for the courage to do whatever the clock tells you it is time to do. Your clock might be changing times right now and it might be saying it’s time for something unfamiliar, unpopular, or daunting, but God’s grace is sufficient! Another quote by A.W. Tozer says this: “To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with man.” Sometimes God’s clock may show a time that requires choices and changes that might go against what has become the norm, but that is nothing more than a basic guarantee of Christianity! It is part of the all-sanctifying work promised to those whom God has called to Himself. Being conformed to the image of Christ means that the more we look like Christ, the less we will look like what has become commonly expected and/or accepted. If God’s clock gives you a time that requires radical life change, don’t let uncertainty or fear of man keep you from doing what God has shown you to be His best for you. There have been many life-changing times the Lord has done work in my heart that has resulted in decisions that are anything but popular or “normal,” but each one in some way has further fortified my faith and further shown me that His ways and time are best. I pray that this would be an encouragement to you and that maybe if you’re struggling with the time your clock might be showing that this might be an encouragement for you to follow through with what the Lord is doing in your heart. I know He’s working on my heart in so many ways right now!

May God richly bless you with the courage, the grace and the faith to follow His leading, wherever it takes you, and remember that what God does is for your good and for His glory!

To an Audience of One,

Joshua


Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. ~Psalm 119:105

My pastor had a wonderful message this morning from Mark 8, and I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to challenge you all with something that really challenged and convicted me! Mark 8:34-38 says, “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Wow, pretty powerful, huh? Jesus tells us that if we are to follow, then we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross. Now we have to admit, denying ourselves of anything isn’t pleasant! If you’re like me, trying to figure out how I can deny myself of anything that I want or like is the last thing that I’m going to do! So why does Jesus tell us to deny ourselves as part of following Him? It’s because the more we are filled with “us,” the less we are filled with Christ, and the less we are filled with Christ, the less we are willing to give up our own desires and be used for His glory. If we are to follow Christ, we must deny ourselves and live a life of self-sacrifice, which leads into the next aspect of following Christ: taking up our crosses. This is really neat and powerful, and I’ve never really thought about this before. What is the significance of Christ saying “…take up [your] cross and follow me…?” I think it’s interesting to realize that when Jesus told the crowd and the disciples that part of following Him meant taking up the cross, Jesus hadn’t even died on the cross yet! The cross, however, was widely known throughout the land in those times as one of the most cruel, horrendous instruments of torture and death imaginable. So did Christ basically say that to follow Him, one must essentially suffer an excruciating death? What does He mean? Well, it all goes back to living a life of self-sacrifice and denying one’s self. What is the ultimate thing that you could give up of yourself? It’s your life! When you think about it, it’s really a gruesome analogy to think that the kind of sacrifice that Christ wants is an unimaginably painful one, one that strips us of everything we have, ultimately life itself! But in verse 35 it says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” I love how the Christian life is one of opposites! You lose to gain, you die to live. Jesus wants us to be willing to give up everything, even our very lives for His sake. What does that say about us as Christians if we aren’t willing to give up everything for the One Who laid down His life for us? It says we are ashamed of Him and His Gospel. Think about this: Jesus obeyed the will of the Father to give up everything to die the worst death possible so that we might have a way of salvation. He was God!!! But, He came humbly, obediently to the cross. As mere humans, the least we can do is give up our worthless lives for the Name of Christ. Verse 38 tells us that if we are ashamed of Christ, then He will be ashamed of us. If someone pointed a gun at your head and asked you if you believe in Jesus, what would you say? Would you be ashamed of the One Who took on your sins, even though He was perfect, so that you could have life, and have it more abundantly? We need to be willing to give up our all, even if it means our very lives, for the cause of Christ. God help me if I am ever in that situation, because my own strength would never be enough. My prayer is that if someone ever asked me if I believed in Jesus, and my answer meant life or death, that I would not be ashamed of my Savior. I’ll leave you with this simple question: What would you do?