Recently I've been frustrated by the deepest recesses of my heart revealing yet again familiar issues of sin playing out in all the same ole ways. I prayed, asked others to pray, threw my hands up and begged my God to take these evil knee jerk reactions away from me. I needed the Holy Spirit to intercede as habitual actions and reactions threatened to play out before I even realized what was happening. In the last few days I spoke with three of my people who were appalled by the same temptations rising up once again despite their passion for living a life of righteousness. I watched tears roll down faces as desperate pleas were made for the Spirit's intercession.
For the first time in 20 years I'm taking a college class, Christian Issues in Psychology. In the text book, some guy named Entwistle spends a good deal of time on the subject of the Fall.
"Cornelius Plantinga paints a picture that contrasts shalom, the peace that was intended by God, with sin, the cause of the brokenness that surrounds us...'In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight--a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as the creator and savior opens doors and speaks welcome to the creatures in whom he delights...a sin is any act-any thought, desire, emotion, word, or deed-or its particular absence, that displeases God and deserves blame."
I've read the beginning chapters of Genesis many times. I remember God speaking how the serious ramifications of Adam and Eve's choice of snack food will shatter a perfect creation. Yet, when my grass starts to die and my shrubs get sad and wilty, I'm surprised. When I'm tempted once again in that old familiar way I'm ashamed, I feel dejected, I'm tempted to despair. While I would much rather have the whole complete kind of shalom I have to expect defective darkness in my heart and sickness in soul as well as my soil.
I personally am often tempted to get bogged down by the lack of redemption in the world. My sin, general evil, the weeds in my flower bed...all of these things can overwhelm me if not kept in the confines of truth. Even in the deepest of despair, I must be mindful of the atonement provided by my Savior and actively feel the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I'm also in constant need of other believers. Last Friday in Covenant's Chapel Pastor Joe Novenson challenged us "Don't underestimate the place God has given you in the lives of His people." Pastor Joe concluded his exegetical dissection of Proverbs 11:30 breaking down the word "capture" as a term for war. He reminded us that we have to fight for each other. We walk through life in prayer and supplication, sharing the weight that is the knowledge of one another. We are to know and be known so when temptation infiltrates we can remind each other not to despair. When we do fall to temptation, an outside perspective that helps name our sin is paramount and necessary. And then, some of us more than others, need help to reveal our righteousness. In a way, we are the fairy dust of God's truth sprinkled on the hearts of God's people. So we sit together in the glorious shadow of the cross all the while longing for the true shalom in which we were intended to exist.
January 2016 #backdeckbliss
"O Lord, I acknowledge and give thanks that You created in me Your image so that I may remember, contemplate, and love You. But (this image) has been so effaced by the abrasion of transgressions, so hidden from sight by the dark billows of sins, that unless You renew and refashion it, it cannot do what it was created to do."
-Anselm of Canterbury
