Saturday, January 17, 2009

What Troubles the Lord Most...

“There is not any thing that, in our communion with him, the Lord is more troubled with us for, if I may say so, than our unbelieving fears, that keep us off from receiving that strong consolation which he is so willing to give to us.”

- John Owen, On the Mortification of Sin (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 77.
posted at "Of First Importance"

1 comment:

arc said...

In "This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland," Gretel Ehrlich recounts the experiences of Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen as they explored Greenland and studied the Inuit culture. The following occurred in 1922.

"In Eclipse Sound just south of Bylot Island, a gale hit and the ice where the Greenlanders had made an igloo broke off. For thirty hours they drifted and fought breaking ice, trying to stay together, trying to keep from falling into open water. 'We ran up and down the ice searching for a spot to cross to each other. Finally (Bosun) shouted that he had found a place. I took off my coat, turned it inside out and poured the child into it. Then I shouted to the father to come and help catch her, and I tossed her like a sack.'"

"But the edges of the floe Arqioq and his wife were on kept breaking off until there was hardly room to stand. Half the contents of the sled fell overboard--all their food and warm clothing--but eventually they clambered onto a bigger piece of ice. Together again, Freuchen, the two couples, Bosun, and the baby drifted around Lancaster Sound between Devon Island and Baffin Island. For the next two days they could not dry their clothes or cook. The baby cried and his mother was in a bad temper. Arqioq pulled Freuchen aside and apologized for his wife: 'She belongs to those who are angry when adrift on an ice pan if they have small babies.'"

Ever have one of those weeks? You thought it couldn't get any worse, and somehow it finds a way.

Many days we have an easier time trusting God for our eternal salvation than for our immediate temporal needs. What does that imply about my faith? What does it say about the One I proclaim as Lord? Either I don't have a very competent God or I don't believe He really loves me.

In Mark 9, a father approaches Jesus with his demon-possessed son. "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

Jesus replies, "'If you can'? Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:22, 23)

Lord, help my unbelief.