Remain reliant upon God to walk the walk of faith

12. At least three times in the Gospels, Jesus is accused of being slow to respond. His friend Lazarus had died in Bethany, and Jesus lingers for a few days before arriving at his town. In another place, Jesus sleeps in the boat while the disciples become more and more alarmed that the growing storm will sweep them away. In still another place, James and John ask Jesus if they should call down fire upon a city that rejected him … in a way commenting on what they perceive as Jesus not being involved enough.

 

We have to recognize in ourselves this same impatience toward God. As I have said before, it will not do for us to expect God to pay us back with a sense of His presence for whatever work we put into His kingdom. Once we set out as men and women walking by faith, we must not expect to “graduate” into a walk by sight. If anything, this would be a digression.

 

The disciples were men closest of all to knowing Jesus and being familiar with his intentions. Yet, even though they have known him and followed him, they find themselves often unclear about how to follow or what to say.

 

It is saying nothing new to warn that, even though we pray a lot and press ourselves into the knowledge and understanding of God, we must not consider our own perspective to be unerring. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Or, as the wording of the New Jerusalem Bible has it: “put no faith in your own perception.”

 

It is a mistake to think ourselves accomplished in matters of faith. We are ever reliant upon God to “show us his ways” and “teach us his paths” (from Psalm 25). If we stop this seeking, our finding will come to an end.

Keep going even when you want to stop

11. Once you start to make a turn toward the study and practice of the interior life, you would think that everything is going to feel fine.

You must realize that the path you are on is going to take you to some dark places. If your life is truly going to be immersed in God, your flaws and impurities are going to become disconcertingly apparent. In semi-darkness we can hide many aspects of sin and its damage to our lives. When God’s light moves more intensely within our hearts, our awareness of him increases, but so does our awareness of our need for purification.

This is a point at which many seekers turn back. You will be sorely tempted to excuse yourself for being broken, to pronounce yourself forgiven and to go no further on this inner journey. Self-awareness of sin is the quickest way to get someone to run in fear from what is holy. Peter showed us this when he said to Christ, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.”

Don’t be afraid. The spiritual masters call this the “purgative” element of the journey. This is when God will work in your heart to cleanse you from sin and free you from its power. He will do this not all at once, but little by little over time, so as not to overwhelm you.

In the same way that a surgeon may heal you by cutting into your body, so will the Holy Spirit lovingly wound your heart in order to make a way for God’s greater influence over you.

Don't miss the miracle of God's presence by seeking excitement

10. Sometimes you will experience what I call a “tasty time” with God. That is to say, your prayer or Bible reading, or “that one time in church,” or during a conference or special retreat, you have an extraordinary sense of God’s presence.

You will want your every prayer and every reading and every meeting to be a “tasty time” of spiritual excitement and enlightenment. Of course, you know, faith operates in the unseen, unfelt aspects of life. By faith we believe that God is involved in our lives whether or not we can touch him, hear him or see him.

The spiritual masters of yesteryear tell us not to expect spiritual excitement and enlightenment every time. It is not any one particular reading or one prayer or one attendance at church that is going to form your inner life. It will be the continual practices of prayer, reading, meditation, community and ministry to others that God will use to gradually enrich your walk with him.

Sometimes these conscious visits with God will be extraordinary. Most of the time they will be ordinary.