Romans Week 3
07/14/2017 .One way to think of the Christian life is in times of sowing, harvesting, and waiting. I have a vivid memory of myself walking out of a college class and thinking, “I haven’t had any new experiences with God in awhile. What’s going on?” The past two years my relationship with God had been on overdrive. I was learning something new about Him everyday, walking closely in His presence, and hearing His voice more clearly all the time. But lately, the big spiritual revelations seemed to slow down. I thought something was wrong with me, that I wasn’t seeking hard enough, or that I wasn’t paying enough attention to The Spirit. As I moped, heading to my next class, God reassured me, “This is just a walking time.”
A waiting time; the time after the ground has been plowed and the seed has been sown. It was the time before the new plants would sprout. A few weeks later I was reassured of my state by someone at church. He said to me, “In this season, just walk confidently in the gifts God has given you and in what you have learned.” This time may feel a little dead to me, I may just be looking out over a plowed and planted field not yet flourishing with life, but, what is needing to take root is and I have to walk and I have to wait.
This past week in Romans gave me a new confidence in this season. I can be tempted to think that the absence of big, giant fruit everyday means I’ve returned to the slavery of sin. But the truth is I need to re-surrender myself to God’s Lordship and trust that I am free to remain in the fruit of the Spirit--even in a waiting time. As I continue to walk and wait, I’ve seen--just as the Scriptures say--that these “dead” times are necessary to see the fruitful seasons. Even Jesus had a “dead” season. He had to die to be raised to give us new life! That truth gives me new patience and endurance. If my blessed Savior walked the path of death towards life, I will obediently and joyfully do the same.
When we put our “dead” times in this perspective, His call to us to take up our cross and follow Him isn’t so intimidating. We must die to sin to have new life! When we fully accept this new life that Christ has given us, we don’t have to submit to sin’s grip. We get to choose which power we will operate out of: Christ’s eternal power or sin’s limited influence.
While we have these choices and power available to us, our trials can still feel overwhelming. We can feel unprotected and even homeless. The devil wants for us to feel displaced from our adoption in Christ. He wants us to blame God our Father for our suffering so that we become distant from Him. One of our authors this week, Lisa Harper, combatted those thoughts and feelings by caring well for her own adopted daughter. As her heart became tenderized to the fatherless, her heart again became soft towards God The Father.
Our week ended with the strong assurance that one day our groanings will turn into glory--either in this life or the next. Rebekah Lyons writes, “Trials are always accompanied by hope.” We just have to choose the hope. And we know that the source of our hope, Jesus, is steadfast and sure amidst any and all suffering.
For me, the grace day was much needed. I needed to strengthen my heart with Scripture and I needed to hear the Father tell me once again that I am His beloved and that He gives me an unfailing hope.
Click here to watch our discussion video on this new mindset that God gives us!