From My Utmost for His Highest

We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3

In a recent talk, Drought in Ministry – When Even the Altar Must Go on the Altar, I detailed some of the times I’ve been disappointed lately. But until today’s Utmost post, I never considered that those disappointments, times when I’ve been left alone out in front or “people who used to be lights [who] flicker out” WERE THE PLAN. {Tweet}

We have to be careful attributing things to our fallen nature and instead (first) consider that this might be . . .

. . . Plan A.

Paul, in 2 Timothy 4—his last letter to Christendom—settled accounts. He said, “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me. . .” It is a strange way to end for a man who meant so much.

But it’s been a comfort to me and today’s Utmost reinforces that while we’re called to work and live in fellowship with believers, we have to understand that there is only one Light that never fails. {Tweet} Only Jesus will always stand in the gap.

The thing I forgot to say in the Drought in Ministry talk, linked above, was that God withholds nothing in pursuit of our excellence. The Temple was the center of His presence to thousands, and yet, a few years later, in 70 AD, just as Jesus predicted, the Temple complex was sacked and burned. The fires raged so hot that the gold melted and ran between the stones of the temple. To get all the gold out, Romans pried up the stones until “not one stone [there was] left upon another.” {Tweet}

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul was talking to the church in Corinth about how the law fails, but God’s love and presence does not fail. It is hard to do. But if we can see God’s presence in the midst of a siege, then it’s no longer a senseless tragedy, but a trial necessary for God’s great plan. {Tweet}

I love you.

#truthbeatslove