Devotional - 99-09-20 - An Analogy of Faith

1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Life experiences are to be treasured up and learned from. Mary, the mother of Jesus, treasured up things, pertaining to Jesus, in her heart as He was growing up (Mark 2:51) and we also should make the habit of creating a cache of our experiences for our edification and growth in wisdom. Such was the opportunity I had this week when we lost power due to hurricane Floyd.

We lost power while I was on the internet and it seems that some damage was done to the program my computer uses to access the internet. Thus I had no way to get on the net. There are several things I do on the net regularly besides communicate with friends and family. One of those things that has demanded my attention recently has been a fairly intensive job search as I look for a new position.

Without internet access much of what I normally do I could not do, and I set about to correct the program that was corrupted. However, this I did without any success and two days passed. I reached the point of total frustration as I realized that I had tried everything I knew, twice, and I still had the same problem. Had I misdiagnosed the problem? Was it bigger than I thought? Bigger than me? Bigger than God?

Oh yea, God. I had not done one thing that might help fix the problem. In my efforts to use all available time to fix my problem, I had not prayed about it. Being at the point of desperation, I prayed. It was a simple prayer. "Lord, I'm at my wits end. I have done everything in my power to fix this problem. Lord, you know my situation better than me. You know what the problem is and you know how to fix it. Lord, I ask for your help and I resign myself to your will and your gracious care for me."

The problem, much to my surprise, was fixed the next time I tried to access the internet on my computer. So what of it? Does God really care about my internet access? He seems to. More importantly, He cares for my needs and this is just another example that shows how I have found Him to be a faithful Lord and a loving friend.

However, there is more. As I prayed, I can honestly say that, in my heart, I completely surrendered my situation to Him. I had personally given up and was beginning to consider the possibility that I needed to purchase another computer. I laid everything at God's feet.

This is what the Christian does with sin. Many of us could testify about trying to live holy lives, and failing. Many could tell stories of seeking fulfillment through wealth, popularity, sex, drugs, and probably a host of other things. These types of stories all end the same way. When we thought we might find peace, happiness, and fulfillment through so many different avenues, we have all experienced that emptiness and lack of fulfillment such attempts have brought us. We have tried in our own strength, as I did with my computer, and found that we must rest in God's strength.

Many will testify that inner peace is only found in Christ. Many have reached the desperation point in life and said, "Lord, I'm at my wits end. If you are real, reveal yourself to me." When God reveals Himself to us, He comes and fills our void, turns our sorrows into joys, and give us peace where we have felt a sword. If you have experienced the peace that comes from Christ with forgiveness of sin you know the joy of reaching the end of your rope, and simply confessing your need for forgiveness through the atonement of Christ, and then resting in His promises.

If you have not experienced this forgiveness, what are you waiting for? I pray one day soon you will reach the point where the void left by your attempts at self-fulfillment is so great that you give up your rebellion and turn, repenting, toward Christ. But when? May it be soon, may it be soon!

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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