RIPPLES

I had the occasion today to overhear a couple of believers talking about the Lord’s will in their lives. It seemed that the most important thing for them was getting out of debt. At least that appeared to be the thing they felt was what was most important for any believer.

I imagine that might come as a shock to those who have emergencies and have to take out loans to cover the crisis. Oh have to buy a car or house or anything else where an ordinary working person can’t afford to pay cash.

I’m not defending the idea of having debt. I do think that too many of us probably indulge in credit we don’t need. But that isn’t the issue for me.

What occurred to me more is how often it appears that we all become inclined to interpret our relationship with God by our own perceptions. Thus if it works in our lives then it means it is some kind of universal truth.

For me it is so important to let God’s spirit shine in our souls in a way that he gives us balance and the capacity to separate our prejudices from the Lord’s will. This is process that can be so difficult when we become to entangled and manacled to inner drives so that we don’t let the Holy Spirit reveal to us their true meaning. Being human that process and weakness is one we all have to accept, providing we can sequester the drive of pride that often fuels our thoughts.

It is to me so natural to want to justify our lives. That doesn’t mean we have to succumb to the need to call sin something righteous.

But for some, the unpredictable ripples of life, that disturb our lake of control need to be explained. We have an urgency to see them as other than beyond our control. Some stone of circumstance strikes our waters and we are compelled to somehow see it as other than chance.

Beyond it all, beyond the illusions and times we hide from God’s mirror, there resides the Lord’s truth. He will, if we grant him the opportunity in faith, help us to face the ripples and come away not with some personal interpretation of events as truth, but instead see how it fits our lives and our situations.

However that is a journey we each have to take alone. For the reality has to be embraced inside and not just be words we speak in a prayer or time of fellowship. Perhaps the joy is discovering when it is a good thing to admit we don’t have all the answers or have made a mistake.

And for some that journey comes with easier steps than for others. Which means allowing the other person to walk at their pace regardless of whether we can race faster in the process.

May the flame of truth given only by the Lord help each of us to cope with his understanding to the ripples of life. And to do so keeping his guiding map of will as our sense of direction.