Bigger Issues

In his devotional for September 12, Oswald Chambers hits an important concept. The devotional is called "By Spiritual Confusion."

"Ye know not what ye ask." Matthew 20:22 "There are times in spiritual life when there is confusion, and it is no way out to say that there ought not to be confusion. It is not a question of right and wrong, but a question of God taking you by a way which in the meantime you do not understand, and it is only by going through the confusion that you will get at what God wants. "The Shrouding of His Friendship. Luke 11:5-8. Jesus gave the illustration of the man who looked as if he did not care for his friend, and He said that that is how the Heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think He is an unkind friend, but remember He is not; the time will come when everything will be explained. There is a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller communion. When God looks completely shrouded, will you hang on in confidence in Him? "The Shadow on His Fatherhood. Luke 11:11-13. Jesus says there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father, as if He were callous and indifferent, but remember He is not; I have told you - "Everyone that asketh receiveth." If there is a shadow on the face of the Father just now, hang onto it that He will ultimately give His clear revealing and justify Himself in all that He permitted. "The Strangeness of His Faithfulness. Luke 18:1-8. "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" Will He find the faith which banks on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand off in faith believing that what Jesus said is true, though in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you ask."

"God has bigger issues at stake than the particular things that you ask." The biggest issue for each of us is to be conformed to the image of Christ. Isn't it interesting that once we were made in His image, and now we need to be again conformed to that image? Each and every believer is being so conformed. So the things that happen are intended for that end. And this means that God will work His work until it is completed according to His plans. Our praying about a thing may seem to go unheard simply because God is not finished yet.

Then, the events in any believer's life have an impact on others. So in the process of conforming each of us to the image of Christ He is also using our lives to help conform others to the image of Christ! God uses the events in our lives to cause others to grow into the image of Christ. So the thing for which we pray just now is perhaps counter to what God is trying to do in someone else's life. He has heard us, but He has bigger issues at stake.

He is also seeking to glorify His own name in the world. And each of us that are His are His tools. The events in our lives are those tools. Each and every blow is a testimony to the strength of God. For the things that befall believers are identical to those things that come to unbelievers. In our faith in Him at these times, we glorify Him. And therein someone is brought to understand that God is real. So perhaps the thing about which we have sought relief has not completed its work in this area. So we must wait.

These three things, these bigger issues that God has at stake (conforming us to Christ, conforming others to Christ, glorifying His own name), could all seem to be against each other at various times. But our God is so great that He is able to make these things mesh! Is there a time just now when He is not answering our praying? His timing is impeccable. Let us learn to trust Him in working all things to His own Glory!

The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him. Nahum 1:7

HJK