I had to share this comment that I read on a blog today. It was just so beautiful, so exactly what has been on my heart to write about lately, but said so much more succinctly and eloquently than I would have said it.
The post that the comment was made on is about prayers of protection. It is a discussion that expands on a previous post at the same blog entitled, The Divine Protection Racket? A Fixer God? The comment (on 19 Apr 2008 at 8:49 am) was made by Tim Melton.
When Jesus taught us to pray for “our daily bread”, he was teaching us to pray for intimacy with him. He is the daily bread. We don’t necessarily pray so that God will change our circumstances. We pray for the Spirit of Christ to fill us and sustain us in the midst of them. The difference between an atheist and a Christian is not that our circumstances are different, but that we are different in circumstances. We pray as a means of appropriating the Grace of Christ so that in even the worst that life has to offer, we plead: Lord Jesus, abide with me, hold me, sustain me, give me faith, grant me hope, feed my soul, help me to worship, help me to love, forgive me idolatry, walk with me through this.
The only, but huge, difference between me and an Atheist is that I have Jesus. Nothing more should be expected. Truly, nothing more should be desired.
When I first became a Christian, I fell into the trap of thinking that my life was going to be better (from a worldly perspective) than it was before. I believed that if I tithed, God would make sure we had money. If we gave to people who needed, God would make sure we did not struggle financially ourselves. If we trusted God, He would give us a life that we wanted.
Boy, was that wrong! In many ways my life is much worse (from a worldly perspective) than it was before.
As you can imagine, that led to a lot of struggles with my faith, which I have discussed a little on this blog before. I had to relearn my understanding of who God is and what it means to be a Christian.
This quote so beautifully sums up what I have struggled over the past 9 months or so to come to grips with: I have Jesus. Nothing more should be expected. Truly, nothing more should be desired.
Charity, my name is Tim Melton from Sacrosanct Gospel. I was encouraged to read you post. I’m glad that something I wrote was able to encourage someone in their walk with Christ. Also…really good video. The Lord really used it to help me see him more clearly yesterday morning. Blessings!