It’s amazing how both things and people can creep up on you, suddenly a breakthrough comes or something is more deeply felt where each arrives through a sudden realisation from a thought or an action.
This can happen even through the experience of repeated actions where their regularity can often be immersed in over-familiarity that may lead to the dangerous ground of breeding contempt, aka taking something or someone for granted, irrespective of the consequences or loss.
Equally though, we do have a propensity to become creatures of habit, something which comes naturally, possibly through the lack of an active imagination for stepping out because we like to keep control rather than extending our (often self-imposed?) limits. This can result in staying with the tried and trusted experiences that satisfy our desire to avoid uncertain ground where we feel all at sea or facing a possibility of rejection through a perceived inadequacy of ourselves by others, God forbid! Outcome? Faith falters, rather than being strengthened.
What spurred me on to this thinking was a sudden realisation I had when meeting a friend which is something we have done on a weekly basis for some 15-20 years on and off. During our time together we virtually talk only about Christianity on both a personal and doctrinal level rather than the usual topics of sport or politics etc. We have encouraged and challenged one another, disagreed on certain biblical points as well as correcting or helping each other to go deeper in our faith. Just in case I have given the impression of it being a holy self-righteous huddle of comfortable Christianity we have readily acknowledged many times our dependence on the Lord accompanied with a profound gratitude that despite our shortcomings He doesn’t “give up” on us.
In accordance with that dependency, we have often wondered how those sitting around us in the selected cafe who do not believe manage to cope without the Lord’s help and ability to put our lives here into a true perspective.
Returning to the breakthrough part, I recently realised very deeply and quite out of the blue during our time together just how much I cared for my friend, despite the difference in our ages and occasionally the respective opinions we have. Undoubtedly this is based on a trust that has grown over many years, along with a deep appreciation of him as a person in his own right.
The reason for my recounting this is that the Lord also has a very deep feeling for each of us, although with Him there is no breakthrough as He has known about us before creation (Eph. 1 v 4). Equally whilst my devotion to the friend I referred to is much stronger than a passing interest it is nowhere near to what God has extended to us. True, I want the best for my friend, and I pray that I would at least go the extra mile or two for him, but there again how far has our father gone for us and just how much greater is His best compared to ours for you and I?
Jesus called those who believed in Him His friends (John 15 v 15), isn’t it great to have such a friend who is so keen to befriend us despite our respective shortcomings and support us through whatever arises, faithfully, lovingly and truthfully?
With all blessings
Tony
PS This blog is normally updated each Monday, but please note that there will not be one next Monday (May 18th) as I believe that I will not have access to the internet.