Saturday 12 October 2013

The Weakness Of God

Psalm 131 is a bedrock. It is a psalm of surrender, a psalm of submission, a psalm of meekness, a psalm that offers a glimpse into the peaceful world of the crucified life.
But I have calmed and quietened my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. Ps 131:2
In a world consumed with self-advancement, self-gratification, and self-preservation, this humble song of David stands like an oak of righteousness in a field of fickle grass. 


It offers the wisdom of meekness to all who would still themselves before the Ancient of Days.
The wisdom that is from above is pure, filled with peace, meek and attentive... Jam 3:17
Meekness is having a calm and quieted soul. Meekness is true gold. Not only does meekness bring soul peace  without it, we will never walk in our God-ordained destiny. 

If we are to be useful in our Master's hands, our soulish desires for self-advancement, self-gratification, and self-preservation must be surrendered to the blazing, purging fire of Christ's love. Such passions of the soul  rooted in pride, lust, and fear  will never produce the righteousness of God (Jam 1:20). We must surrender the 'strength' of our fallen Adamic nature and embrace the 'weakness' of Christ. Our soul must be weaned.
... the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Cor 1:25
David was ordained by God to be the king of Israel. His was a glorious call  to lead God's people in priestly intimacy and kingly dominion. As a young man, he seemed primed to step straight into his destiny. As a minstrel, he could shift the atmosphere and send demons fleeing. As a shepherd, he could slay giants. And yet for all David's giftings, until his soul was weaned and he learned the way of meekness, he could not step into that destiny. His soul strength was a hindrance to the humility and simple trust required to host the King of Glory.
... My power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor 12:9
Before entrusting David with the great authority and power weaved into his destiny, the LORD patiently waited for him to come to a place of complete surrender and brokenness.

For David, it took around fifteen years of running in the wilderness as a fugitive before he became truly useful to his God. His baptism of fire came at Ziklag. At Ziklag, he and his men's home and refuge was reduced to smouldering ruins and their families lost to savages. After weeping aloud with his men until they all had no more strength to weep, David buckled under the weight. He was an outlaw to his brethren  his king wanted him dead. His Philistine associates didn't trust him and had rejected him outright. And now in the smoky confusion of a smouldering Ziklag, his own company of mighty men spoke of killing him. What would David do? From where would he draw his strength now?


At Ziklag, there is no more running, no more hiding, no more self-preservation, no more soul strength. Ziklag is the baptism of fire. It is the testing ground for kings. And it must come before we step into our ruling and reigning destiny.
Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him ... but David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. 1 Sam 30:6
Before Joseph stepped into his destiny of ruling Egypt and saving millions from starvation, he too had his baptism of fire. With his coat of favour long since stolen, torn and bloodied and his Divine dreams seemingly broken, Joseph surrendered his soul strength and embraced the weakness of God. With his feet in fetters and completely forgotten in a foreign prison, Joseph was finally a broken man and useful to his God.
Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. Ps 105:18-19
Before Moses delivered millions of Hebrews from oppression and slavery, he had his baptism of fire. He too had to surrender his soul strength and embrace the weakness of God. Forty years of desert wandering dissolved all hope he'd ever placed in his royal heritage, classical education, and worldly wealth. And long gone was any faith in his own strength. There were no Egyptian oppressors buried in the sands of Midian. At the burning bush knelt a broken man, useful now to his God.

Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. Num 12:3
We could also look to Abraham, the three Hebrew furnace dwellers, Noah, and the prophets for examples of meekness. The most pure example, of course, was left by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. 1 Pet 2:21
Brothers and sisters, there is no resurrection without a death. There is no ruling and reigning without a suffering and a dying. There is no bequeathment of authority without first a calming and quietening of the soul. Soul passion and the strength of man do not produce the righteousness of God. Such must be surrendered to the flames. The Spirit of Jesus intreats us to stop running and hiding and pleading and strategising and fighting and looking to man. No more dodging spears. We are called to lay our lives down ... gracefully.
... unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jn 12:24
If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it. Matt 10:39
Let us surrender our lives  our dreams, aspirations, affections, security, reputations and, yes, our gifts and callings  to Him who is faithful. Instead of scrambling to save our lives, let us lay them down believing, as Abraham did, that our God truly is able to raise the dead (Heb 11:19). It's the way of the Cross, brothers and sisters. It's the fragrance-releasing, crucified life that takes us ever-deeper into Him. Let us embrace the weakness of God, knowing that it is stronger than the greatest strength of men. 


As we trust Him, we will surely be manifest on the earth as the radiant, shining sons of God. We will experience the full manifestation of Christ's kingdom in and through us. Through the anguish of our souls, we shall see and be satisfied...
Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. 2 Cor 4:10

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