I have a confession to make. I am a
wimp! In the several weeks I have felt God calling me to truly intercede for
several situations (personal and worldwide events). None of these
situations involved me directly. My life, career, finances, health
were not, nor are they, in any jeopardy. His only call was (and is) to
intercede and share in carrying some of the things that are on His heart. And yet I must confess I found myself fighting this call. What a
wimp!
I was confronted with my own sinful
heart. To be perfectly honest I didn't want to enter into the pain of these
situations. The cost was minimal to say the least. But it felt
heavy. I felt inadequate. And the situations felt hopeless.
As only Jesus could have orchestrated,
I have been teaching my 6th graders about the
Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus begins His ministry in
the book of Matthew with these explosive teachings. Jesus enters in and
takes an upside down world and teaches us how to live right side up
again. Jesus teaches us that He has come do more than change my outward actions. He can transform my “want to” my
inner heart and my motives. What a glorious transforming Gospel! He
never promised it would be easy but He reveals to us who He is in
these chapters and He is a God who does the impossible. He is the
God of those who mourn and the God of the weak! And if we let Him,
He can come in and transform us to look more and more like Him. What
Good News! He doesn't wait for me to be courageous, fearless,
perfect. His invitation to me is the same as it was in
the Gospels...”Come, Follow me.”
Oswald Chambers reminds us in his book
on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus did not come to simply teach
us. He came to make us what He teaches we should be. “The
beatitudes are not mild and nice sayings but they contain the
dynamite of the Holy Spirit. They explode like spiritual mines when
the circumstances of life requires them to do.” The Sermon on the
Mount teaches us who He is and who we are, revealing the “Divine
Disproportion.” But isn't that the point? He alone can bridge
that gap and transform my heart. Why is it something that I always
think I can muster up in my own strength? Isn't this the very essence
of the Good News? He can transform my “want to,” my motives. He
can clean me from the inside out!
So I am asking Him to do in me what I
can't do for myself. I am asking Him to give me the courage to enter
in and carry some of the things on His heart. And you know what? I
have seen Him work in incredible ways in situations that felt
impossible. I have seen in a new way that this God I love is a
personal God, One who mourns with those who mourn, One who cares for
those dying from ebola in West Africa, cares for those suffering for
His Name's sake around the world, cares about each one of His children.
I may be a wimp but through His
strength I can chose to enter into the very heart of God and be
transformed. And when I am doing it in His strength it is no longer a
burden but a privilege. Why would I settle for anything less when the
God I love chose to enter into my world, my sin and my mess?
For great resources on prayer check out www.prayercast.com
* Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg/640px-Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg
*https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqAUVTr9tdp5nzWV1Lp7q_txFlVSbxLeV3yPhN6Qn2Hg8Uk2wNjijYJjfLXH6f0wk9WRrMFMJz3IwaeiP8nmPatbsw9COjF5AMpC2q0x8LBZRlWO2kTGFG79ashPVI3sLq79hb33KSW2a/s320/Prayer.jpg
