I’ve always belonged to a different world. I didn’t always know it consciously, but some part of me never doubted it.
There’s been a long spell here when external events haven’t provoked me to point out some critical difference between society and the Word. Instead, I’ve been pulling up regrets and wounds. There are plenty of things I wish I could go back and do over. But there are also plenty of things wherein I have zero doubt I did the right thing and it wasn’t well received. The latter cases still signal to me times when people didn’t seize the moment of faith and glorify the Lord with me.
It reminds me just how completely most people who should know better just don’t exercise enough faith to seize the glory of the Lord. They act out of any number of human choices other than faith. The idea that His glory is, by definition, in our best interest is just too much for them. So they chose what the flesh demands instead.
I recognize this because I do it myself too often.
It’s bad enough when we have a ton of lies about what is or isn’t glorious to the Lord’s name. Here’s the thing: You and I cannot fix that problem. Yes, we can speak the truth, but we have to rely on God to drive it home in the hearts of those who hear. Often, the best we can do is simply live the truth and wait for those moments when the Spirit is ready to strum across their convictions.
But there are way too many times when the meaning of divine glory is too obvious, and they still won’t take it. My faith is not something I ginned up. It is all 100% a gift of grace. The biggest part I played was in deciding I wanted it. There’s no way I can explain how I came to this place except to point back to God’s mercy on me.
I also cannot explain how so many people avoid this place.
It is a very lonely place. The farther I push into faith, the more isolated I am, the more alien I feel in the world around me. I keep feeling Luke 18:8. If the Lord is coming back anytime soon, will He find faith on the earth? I don’t want to embarrass Him. I’m struggling to find fellowship in that desire.
