A. W. Tozer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I recently bought a Kindle. It’s a neat gadget to have and there are tons of free books for it. So, I began to read “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer. I had heard of it before, but never gave it a second look. Since it was free, I began to read it and I have been humbled and challenged in unique ways ever since I picked it up.
I have been floored about how little control I give to God in my life. It hurts me to think I do not trust God more than myself, but I regularly commit that sin. Tozer’s writing has tested and brought me closer to Christ this past week and I’d like to share a little of what I’ve learned.
It was this paragraph that humbled me so much, “We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.”
Letting go is the hardest thing to do sometimes, but by holding on we end up making the situation worse. Only when we give control completely to God is when we see the best come out of a broken situation.
CARRYING ISAAC
God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Issac. I always imagined Abraham brokenhearted, carrying him up the hill. How many times in our lives are we commanded to do the same thing and are too cowardly to actually do it? Abraham probably went through some serious struggles going up that hill to sacrifice his son. He loved Issac more than anything else in the world. That was the problem, though. Abraham’s love for Issac competed inside his heart against his love for God.
We do this all of the time. We praise relationships, sports teams, celebrities, and more. Each one is at war inside our hearts for a space that God desperately wants. Sometimes we don’t make that sacrifice and never realize it because we assume we know better. Abraham could have told a different story. He could have ignored God and said “No” and then missed out on God’s blessing.
But Hebrews 11:19 says, “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead.” Abraham carried Issac up the hill to be sacrificed. His heart was committed to doing it because he had faith that God could bring Issac back to life. The story does not end that way, but it could have. God could have have had Abraham go through with it and then raise Isaac from the dead, but he stops Abraham.
Since Abraham feared God and was faithful he was blessed.
GOD IS GOOD
We all have been hurt at some point in time in our lives. Sometimes it is by other people and we stop trusting them. Sometimes we blame God, like when a loved one dies, and we stop trusting God. I think the answer to all that mistrust comes from us forgetting that God is good.
We are the ones that are broken and evil. We do not know what is best for ourselves. We come to God and ask, but we must have faith only good requests will be answered. Jesus says in Mathew 7:11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Remember that all things work together for his good. There is nothing on this world that can not easily be redeemed by God when we sacrifice it to him. Give your possessions away to God. Give your family. Give your spouse. Give that shiny car you love. Give it all. Then he’ll take those things and do good things with them. Then he’ll give back tenfold.
THE DARK HOURS
It is hard to let go of someone or something you love, but after reading Tozer’s quote I realized that letting them go to God is the greatest thing you can every do for them. The same goes with every worldly possession. They are only temporary comforts, but true joy comes from Christ.
We all experience dark hours when we feel like God is not there, but maybe he is and you just haven’t made room for him. What ever is making that hour so dark needs to be sacrificed to God. Faithfully know that Christ can redeem it and give it up to him. Then Christ will bless you. Otherwise you stand the chance of missing his blessing and only having the comforts of the world to lean on.
Off The Cuff Christian 