“Blessed is the person who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:6) … Life always comes down to trusting in the Lord rather than trying to figure out His ways via our finite, limited understanding… We may not always understand what He does or allows, but He can still be trusted. This is the nature of walking by faith rather than by sight. Even when His grace isn’t sufficient, it is sufficient. And He is in control.
(Frank Viola, in a Monday blog post entitled ‘The Forgotten Beatitude: Three Reasons Why Christians Get Offended by God and What to do About It’) H/T: TB
Yesterday, after worship, more than twenty men at our church gathered for two hours, over pizza, to explore two specific aspects of the fruit of the Spirit: Peace and Patience, (perhaps my shortest suits). Such a thing may not be so remarkable in the Bible belt, but here in gospel-starved New England, the mere fact of more than twenty men (in a church of only ~100 people in worship) carving two hours out of a lovely afternoon is astounding, refreshing, encouraging.
Beyond the numbers though, it was profoundly enriching discussion, among a group diverse in virtually every outward dimension (age, race, economic status, national origin, years in faith, etc.) Yet for each aspect of this fruit (think of them as segments of an orange: integrated yet distinct) the discussion kept coming back to one point: trust.
Short on peace? You’re probably short on trust. Short on patience? You’re probably short on trust. Short on trust (in the Lord)? You’re probably short on peace and patience and a bunch of other things too. Secondarily, a point came up which had confused me for years: the world offers fakes of those fruit. E.g., Peace: the temporary absence of violence (giving short-shrift to original sin and the murderous thoughts which arise from it.) Patience: saying ‘whatever’ and walking away, either physically or mentally (a form of contempt).
In that context, Viola’s post struck a chord. The whole thing is worth reading.
Can you think of a more far-reaching result of a lack of trust than Abraham and Sarah? Sarah says well, you know I’m not getting any younger so here’s my maidservent, Hagar……. Talk about trouble in the family tree. When you do what God’s Word plainly says to do he is responsible for the outcome. When you do what you think you should do because of what you are seeing, you are responsible for the out come.
By: jeff on February 28, 2012
at 7:03 am
What a blessing for you to be part of such a group of men. A friend of husband’s was talking about how difficult it is to get men here together for an afternoon, much less to get them to open up. Enjoy that blessing.
Thanks for sharing the thoughts on trust. Never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense if you think about how most sin comes down to pride.
The enemy likes to be opposite of Christ and if you scratch the surface of almost any sin, there’s that sin of self peeking through in some shape or form.
Whereas trust, well, talk about opposite. To trust, we have to let down our guard–let go of the pride that says we can do better/know better/etc. We have to humble ourselves to trust.
Wow. Again, never finished out that thought before but gives me more incentive to pray and live out a humble life before God. Thanks again for sharing.
By: Tam on February 28, 2012
at 3:42 am
My husband and I read Viola’s post this morning…yep, it is right on! offensively so…
We are so familiar with the pruning of fruit bearing trees and vines increasing
fruitfulness, and we know that patience and peace are both fruits of the Holy Spirit,
but it amazes me how quickly we attach to the understanding that since fruit requires maturation through cultivation we set right to the task. Yes, recognise maturity as a process of conforming to Christ, through careful tending by our Vinedresser,
but we must not lose the understanding that the fruit of the Holy Spirit will always, and only be the Holy Spirit’s fruit…it is not my own.
quickly we grow weary because but forget; God uses no Miracle-Gro, but is always miraculous (joy inexpressible, peace that passes understanding, the lavish grace upon grace of long suffering, etc down the list) no growth hormones will improve the flavor (sos 4:16), and there are no seedless showy fruit from this Tree of Life in the kingdom,
maturity is not the same thing as Holy Spirit fruitfulness;
and the sense I have is that more than trust, it is rest we lack;
like a knotted umbilical cord will starve off the life supply to a pre-born, if we are tangled up in our connection to the source, by trying to trust Him more we will choke ourself,
I can not become more patient by trying to grow faster, that will only exasperate me; trying to “get gooder” is a primary seduction for Christians…the work is finished, we are to labor to enter the rest, the resting in the finished work of Christ and His cross, that is the fruit-filled land of promise, what is begun in the Spirit can not be accomplished by the striving of the flesh,
I think it is the laughter of heaven when we finally say, “aha, I am a dead man, I forgot, I can’t do it, no surprise to You, here I am, live through me, abide…bear fruit 12 months a year…then we are matured and fully assured…perfect and complete…trials prove to us we could never act patient, faithful resting in the nature of Love produces patience, the restful yielding to increase the yield.
thanks for your labor of love, writing in the kingdom (Matt 13:52), I have only begun running in my late fifties, so your coaching tips and anecdotes are fun to me: and your posts a few back broke open my heart for His kindness; the Lord delivered me from the anorexia/bulimia thing at the time of my salvation, but rebuilding the ruins is on-going yet painfully glorious…my husband is boston-irish and we lived in Dorchester for over 20 years, after homeschooling, we sent our kids for a few years to a school in Arlington, so I have a fistful of visuals to relate to your descriptions, and I understand the stoney ground of the Boston area…ysiC…janie
By: janie on February 27, 2012
at 4:12 pm