Well, I've gone and done it. I've joined twitter...or however you say it. Subscribed? Followed? Who knows. I sure don't. My children will surely be horrified...but isn't that part of the job of a parent--to humiliate your children?
But they need not fear, as I don't plan to do much, if any, "tweeting." (Is tweet a verb?) Here's why I've decided to jump--in an extremely limited way--on the bandwagon--
Because, as John Piper, says, "I leak."
Yes, yes, me too. Boy, do I leak! Let me explain.
Very early, almost every morning, I have a wonderful, life-infusing, God-fueled encouragement/conviction/worship/perspective-altering/joy-filling/provision-providing time alone with the Lord. (Let me hasten to add here--this has nothing to do with anything I do or deserve in the mornings. Nope, it's all--pure and simple--due to the fact that I have the privilege of meeting the awesome, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign, all-loving God of the universe in the mornings. Just Him and me. How about that? So, who'd you talk to this morning over coffee? But just want to get one thing straight--it's 100% Him and 0% me.)
But the strange thing is, it never seems to take long before I start leaking all that goodness and grace and glory. I somehow or other forget who I am and Whose I am. By 9:00 in the morning, I can forget to forgive someone...because I've obviously forgotten that my Savior has forgiven me of so much infinitely more and worse than I'm ever called to forgive. By 11:00 in the morning, I find myself fretting and worrying about this or that...because I tend to leak. Forgetful child that I am, I find myself leaking trust and gratitude.
By 1:00 in the afternoon, well mercy, I've leaked and leaked and slowly lost all the patience and wise perspective He'd so lovingly poured into me that very morning. And the result? The littlest thing can cause me to complain and fuss. And by 5:00 p.m., well, just forget about it! How on earth can I love others with full, joyful, and unselfish abandon if I've been slowly forgetting Him and leaking out His love--drip, drip, drip--all day long.
And you know what? That's just our frail, human condition. We leak. Every single one of us. So we need Him; we need His Holy Spirit--hour by hour, moment by moment--reminding us, guiding us, encouraging us in the way we should go and in the way we should think and respond.
The 17th century British author and pastor, William Gurnall, put it this way: "If the provisions were left in our own hands, we would soon be bankrupt merchants. God knows we are weak, like cracked pitchers--if filled to the brim and set aside, the contents would soon leak out. So He puts us under a flowing fountain of His strength and constantly refills us...The Christian ought to rely on divine strength because this plan results in the greatest advancement of God's own glory (Eph.1:4,12) If God had given you a lifetime supply of His grace to begin with and left you to handle your own account, you would have thought Him generous indeed. But He is magnified even more by the open account He sets up in your name. Now you must acknowledge not only that your strength comes from God in the first place, but that you are continually in debt for every withdrawal of strength you make throughout your Christian course."
Amen! I leak, you leak, all God's children leak...but God has given us the priceless gift of His Holy Spirit and His infinite supply of grace and strength sufficient for our every need...moment by moment. We just have to remember to call upon Him. To seek Him. To focus upon Him and draw upon Him and His supernatural power and not our own measly, ever-dwindling efforts.
So back to the beginning--that's where twitter comes in. Just another little means of reminding me. Reminding me of the God of Glory who is fully in control of our every moment, who knows our every tear, and who will provide for our every need. Because He is always, always, always enough.
Yes, we know that...but sometimes during long, hard days, we need to remind one another, don't we? Sometimes a short little sentence here or there from C.S.Lewis or John Piper or Andy Stanley or our pastor or our friend or even our child--that God is there and that He is enough. It's just one leaky, but loving, child of God speaking truth to another leaky one...because we need to encourage one another to go to "the fountain of His strength" and be filled again!
Maybe you needed to hear that good word today? If so, can I be the one to encourage you--His fountain of grace is ever-flowing, ever-sufficient, ever-available. Come and be refilled now. Right now. He's waiting and ready to stop up those leaks and fill you with Himself and the limitless fountain of His grace.
Just thought you might need a little reminding. I know I did. "Come thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise..."
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your ever-flowing Fount of grace and mercy and love and strength. Thank You for reminding us. Thank You for refilling us...again and again. Do it again, Lord.
To God be the glory.
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