While in church on
Sunday, I was in a conversation where I saw familiar words of hymns I had sung from
the Songs
of Praise hymn book that was used in my Methodist-founded secondary school.
It was first published in 1925, with updated editions thereafter.
However, it was quite
discomfiting for one to know the words of a hymn only for the organist to play
a rather unfamiliar tune. The nostalgic moment of recognition and being taken back
in time to life probably only slightly more innocent than now, is lost in trying
to find your place and rhythm again.
Hear me sing
with aplomb
Then with the Offertory
hymn, I, with full-throated voice, swayed in syncopation and rhythmic candour, I
knew the words and the organist played the tune. I half wanted to look back and
grin at my earlier interlocutor to suggest we have had an answered prayer or just
the propinquity of desire and coincidence. What an experience to have.
Then out of the recesses
of memory came the highlighted lines of the third verse of a hymn I can hardly say
I have sung in over 40 years. Stand up, Stand
up for Jesus which in those days had the organ powered by foot bellows and played
by a Muslim classmate. Only a few had art or skill with classical instruments and
when I did offer to learn, a teacher thwarted the activity rather than encouraged
it. Yet, I took from that short lesson the ability to play the tune to the Do-Re-Mi song and never really
improved on it.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand in his strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you,
ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armour,
each piece put on with prayer;
where duty calls or danger,
be never wanting there.
Hymnary.org - Stand up, stand
up for Jesus - George Duffield (1858)
Stand in his
strength alone
This probably presents
one of the biggest challenges of Christian living where we have learned, been schooled,
and have been taught to exert and exercise for achievement derived from endeavour
and sweat. The human-centred desire to excel and not attribute success to anyone
else without the bruises we have suffered.
The work of faith
that involves fully trusting in God for purpose, direction, instruction, inspiration,
and affirmation leaves you open to the accusation of being a religious fanatic.
Many do not believe in prayer or prayer that works. In terms, many do not even know
God’s will about what they pray about to have any kind of assurance beyond the moment
they are in.
Unlearning the way
of the world and society to stand in His strength alone is a daily quest for letting
the divine override the natural world and ways to launch into the orbit of the spirit
where one can call things that are not as though they were. God is a spirit and
they that worship him should worship him in spirit and in truth. [Bible Gateway:
Ephesians 6:10,
Proverbs 3:5,
Romans 4:17, John 4:24]
The arm of
flesh will fail you
The many promises
that have been made to us that never got fulfilled by those who in your time of
need or great adversity presented a succouring voice that with time was not followed
by any action.
In thinking of such,
one might be tempted to feel hard done by, hurt, or embittered. Then you realise
that for all the abilities people seem to think they have to get things done, meet
a demand, offer some support or anything else, they are seriously limited in ability,
reach, means, resources, or facility.
We more typically
live from day to day as mere mortals unaware of the divine resources that are at
our disposal. The abundance of heavenly resources we can call upon but only if we
knew anything about God that was first introduced in the Old Testament of the Bible
and then the Father God that Jesus Christ revealed and demonstrated in His preaching
of the gospel, doing good and healing those who were oppressed.
For the problems
that we encounter in life, God has promised us everything to do with life and godliness,
yet we depend on what we can do out of strength, maybe in our cunning, or on others
who have a frame of reference uninformed by the Word of God and limited to the natural
realm.
There is no blessing
in trusting the arm of flesh, it even suggests those who do have turned from the
Lord. [Bible Gateway: Jeremiah 17:5,
Psalm 20:7, 2 Peter 1:3, John 14:12, Acts 10:38]
Ye dare not
trust your own
Indeed, what constitutes
our upbringing, our education, and our experiences is generally to equip us for
a seemingly godless world, where your wits and hard work should yield success. Then,
many strive so hard and get nothing or whatever they get is not enduring.
Heck! The booms and
busts that have become like milestones in my own life could easily lead one to totally
give up, as it can be quite exhausting. It is an engine of hope and expectation
created by God within me that keeps me knowing that the night shall pass, the storms
shall pass, the pain shall pass, the lack shall pass and His will will be done.
Through time, I have
believed in myself, had supreme confidence, and felt I was at the peak of my powers
to even project the unassailable before everything came crashing down like a pack
of cards.
Trust is in short
supply, there is much to learn and understand about trusting God and almost the
people you choose to trust with intimate challenges who can give you the desired
support and encouragement to traverse the evil day, the wilderness, the doldrums,
and the unfortunate circumstances we often encounter. [Bible Gateway: 1 Timothy 4:8,
Psalm 34:19, Psalm 112:7, Jeremiah 29:11]
Never a hopeless
situation
I am constantly reevaluating
what I believe and my faith to be sure that I am never in a situation where I have
nothing that can be brought to bear on any situation.
In the times of the
greatest anxiety, I pray, I speak in tongues, and I endeavour not to dwell on the
issues that might exacerbate worry and distress. [Bible Gateway: Romans 8:26]
Nowadays, I purposefully decide to sleep and rest even as I am still
learning to let God have it all. As He never slumbers nor sleeps, there is no reason
for both of us to keep awake through the night.
I listen to sermons
about how great God is and who God says I am. One area where I need to devote more
voice is speaking to the problem about God, rather than speaking to God about the
problem.
There is great capacity
and possibility in a person who knows God for who God is in His love for us and
his care for us, we are only going to find out from His word and those anointed
to preach the word.
In that alone, I
am not ashamed to know the Christ who came for me that I might have eternal life
that starts from this life I am already living on earth. It is why through all adversity,
as long as I live, there is hope, change, and a testimony of the goodness and mercy
that follows me.
PS: Click on and meditate on the links to the verses on this blog and I know that whatever you might be going through, you will find an answer that will give you strength, comfort, resolution, and joy.
Shalom! Shalom!
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