“And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.” -Exodus 2:23-25

In the above passage, we find that Israel had come under great oppression and slavery, and the entire nation groaned for release: and we see a very important phrase at the very end: “and God had respect unto them.” That is to say, God gave regard to their situation, and respected the cries which they made unto Him.

And in all stations and walks of life, God listens to the prayers and cries of those who are weak, oppressed, or in need. He delights to answer such prayers, and to triumph over the proud.

“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;” -Exodus 22:21-23

We who are Christians ought to be the friends and allies of God, and not put ourselves in a position that would in any way resist Him. If the above statements from Scripture are all true, then we need to ask ourselves: are we the helpless and needy, or are we the ones who are working oppression upon others?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” -Matthew 5:3-12

“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” -1 Kings 19:11-12

A strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire: here we see the prophet Elijah encountering many strong and powerful forces—things that were no doubt caused by God. And in all of these things, Scripture says that “the Lord was not in” them.

It was the still, small voice—a whisper—in which God spoke with Elijah. And today in the New Testament church, we ought to see even clearer—since the Holy Spirit dwells within our very own heart—that God has no need to yell or shout at us, and He instead speaks in a whisper: from heart to heart.

Yet it is in the nature of the devil, and perhaps built into our own sinful hearts, that we wish to be spoken to with a scream. We are waiting for a great shout from God, when in reality, He is waiting to speak to us with a whisper. If we are in carnality and sin, our thoughts are liable to be tossed about in chaos, and we may very well miss the crucial message of God’s Spirit for our lives.

“Again I say, you are as a heavenly flag, set upon a flagpole within the world. Do not entangle yourself with the thrashings and tumults of this present life, else when My gentle wind blows, you will not be responsive to the callings that I send you. Should your flag be tossed about with the turbulence of carnality, you will in no way react to My breeze.” -Tears from a Lonely God, chapter 20, Lead by My Spirit

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” -Proverbs 29:25

As I mentioned in a previous post, Amy Carmichael was walking home from church, and saw an old lady carrying a heavy burden and in need of help. Amy stopped and helped her, yet many other of her church members stopped and stared, or avoided her altogether—for the old woman’s appearance was haggard and messy. At this, Amy began to feel a bit ashamed and embarrassed for doing a good deed.

Yet just then, Amy heard a voice speaking to her the words of Scripture:

“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” -1 Corinthians 3:12-14

From that day onward, Amy Carmichael would be a changed person, and she no longer lived under the fear of man. She was convinced that the only one worth pleasing was God, and it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

Amy’s story comes in stark contrast to that of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time. For the religious rulers of the day had seemingly no backbone, and they were always living in continual fear of what others might think of them outwardly; they said long prayers—not because of a trust in God, but because of a fear of men: they wanted to be seen of them; they gave tithes and made it very obvious when they did it so that everyone knew how “generous” they were; when they fasted, they made their faces look uncomfortable so everyone would see what a “sacrifice” they were making for God; yet it was all for show. Everything that the Pharisees did was out of a fear of man.

Even if one of the Pharisees had been interested in Jesus’ teachings, they dared not show it openly, but would come to Him in secret. “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night. . .” (John 3:1-2).

And when they saw that Jesus was teaching things that absolutely opposed their way of life, they became angry. Ironic, that the supposed most religious people of the day—the ones that were supposed to be the closest to God—became so angry at the very Son of God coming to earth, that they wanted to kill Him!

And while it is not good that they crucified Him, we see in their reluctance and hesitation to do so even further evidence of their “fear of men.”

“And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.” -Matthew 21:45-46

Lessons for us today

While Jesus was the Son of God, and in every way good, it ought to be noticed that independent of this fact, the Pharisees were paralyzed from taking action against Him simply because they were afraid of what other people would think.

Likewise, we can easily become paralyzed into inactivity from a fear of man—having a fear that people might think we are too holy, too righteous, or too extreme if we take a stand against sin or uncleanness. As the Proverb says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare. . .” (Proverbs 29:25). And so instead of offend man, we offend God, and commit a sin.

We ought to remember who has given us life: God. We ought to remember who has given us salvation: God. We ought to remember who will stand judge at that last and final day: it is none other than God. Man’s views, and his opinions, are of no weight or importance in a Christian’s life, but God’s will is of utmost importance. What folly it is to please men that we do not even like and at the same time offend the enthroned King of Heaven: whom we claim to love and serve!

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” -Galatians 1:10

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” -John 12:24

Sometimes God calls us to give our lives for Him; whether it is to literally lose our physical lives for His gospel, or simply to consecrate our lives and give all our efforts and time unto His service, we are called to give up our own lives.

“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” -John 12:25

And the rewards for this surrender are great: not only do we have peace that we are in God’s will, and will someday inherit eternal life, but as the verse at the top of this page states, we shall “bring forth much fruit.”

As a seed that falls to the ground and dies, so too when we die to our own ambitions and hopes, and give ourselves into the rich soil of God’s will, in due time we will undoubtedly spring up into a fruitful plant.

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” -Psalm 126:5-6

Yet the consequences of not following Christ’s commands are saddening. For, even if we are born again, if we negelect God’s call for our life, we shall suffer tremendous loss in eternity, and miss out on everlasting treasure. But not only that, but Scripture says that we will abide alone. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…”

Some of God’s greatest manifestations of power and glory will only come on the path of His will. Some of God’s greatest healings, and outpourings of grace will only come while walking on His divine path. In His ways, there is protection and provision; yet in our own stubborn self-comfort, there is only the prospect of the seed obstinately refusing to be brought low, which will only continue to “abide alone.”

“If we refuse to be corns of wheat falling in­to the ground and dy­ing; if we will nei­ther sac­ri­fice prospects nor risk char­ac­ter and prop­er­ty and health, nor, when we are called, re­lin­quish home and break fam­ily ties, for Christ’s sake and His Gospel, then we shall abide alone.” -Thomas Gaje­tan (Ragland, India)

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” -Acts 9:3-4

In a previous post, I mentioned what I believed to be the secret of greatness, which is faith. Now I would like to go into greater detail in a few specific areas and give examples of greatness, and the faith that God’s people have had in the past.

Paul’s example

The first example is Paul. While still unconverted—and staunchly opposing the church—he had a vision on the road to Damascus, and there encountered the Lord Jesus Christ as a light from heaven.

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.” -Acts 9:3-9

This was a life-changing event for Saul. He would never quite be the same again; and though he regained his physical sight, perhaps in spirit he never fully recovered from his vision of the Lord.

As the hymn “All For Jesus” states:

Since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside—
So enchained my spirit’s vision,
Looking at the Crucified.

So too, I believe it was with Paul. He had forever lost sight of all that was of temporal worth in this world, and through faith, he continuously labored for that which was eternal. He no doubt treasured his heavenly vision that had been so graciously bestowed upon him, and pressed on in his work.

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3:7-8, 14

We may call this sort of repentance—a turning away of all earthly ambitions, and a forsaking of all temporal endeavors—as living the “abandoned life.” Not utterly abandoned and hopeless, but abandoned to God, and having one’s hope and trust for future rewards in none other than Jesus Christ.

Amy Carmichael’s example

In a somewhat similar way to that of the apostle Paul, Amy Carmichael had a life-changing experience, one that seemed to stick with her for her entire life.

While walking home from church with her two brothers, they spotted an old woman carrying a heavy burden, and stumbling and struggling. She and her brothers stopped to help, meanwhile many others from church stopped and stared at the sight—for the old woman was quite rundown and messy in appearance. Filled both with compassion for the woman, and shame from her friends’ gazing, Amy felt uneasy about the situation.

It was then that she spotted a stone fountain, spouting water into the air, that she heard a voice—if not audibly, then surely in her heart—speaking the words of Scripture: “. . . gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; . . . the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward” (1 Corinthians 3:12b-14). It then dawned on her that it did not matter what others thought of her: if she did the work of God, she would receive a reward from God, and that reward would last.

From that day forward, she was a changed person. Already a Christian, true, but now an earnest Christian. Having seen and heard of God’s truth firsthand, she was determined not to waste any further time on temporal pursuits, or in worrying about what others thought of her. Instead, she made it her soul’s pursuit and intent to please God, and to follow His will, whatever the cost.

In effect, she had been built up in faith, and this faith strengthened her to live the abandoned life to God. Without this faith—the faith that eternity is the only thing that will matter in the end—life will be bland, selfish, ordinary, and will come to very little in the kingdom of God. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

If we do not truly believe this truth, then we will not be changed in our hearts, nor in our actions, nor in our everyday lives. This faith is the secret of greatness; no great man or woman of God has ever done anything of eternal impact without this essential faith. This faith gives us the strength to forsake this world and its deceitful riches and cares, and live a life abandoned to God.

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.” -Matthew 4:19-20

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

Often in life, it seems that we search for perfection. We are looking for the perfect job—the one which has no unfavorable tasks or unpleasantness; the perfect church—one where everyone and everything is precisely catered to our needs and beliefs; and most common, the perfect spouse—one who is perfectly compatible with us, knows our every need and want, and who will never disagree or cause an argument.

It would seem that in every situation in life, we want comfortable perfection. We’re always looking for Mr./Mrs. Right, and we are appalled to realized that no one as of yet has met these demands; our life has yet to attain that perfect comfort and rest that we so eagerly desire.

And that’s exactly how God wants it—yea, even wills it and orchestrates it.

Since sin entered the world, and man was driven from the only perfect place—the garden of Eden—we have never been able to find an outwardly perfect place.

Even after we’ve been born again, God does not will for us to have a life of comfort and ease: at least, not until we reach heaven. But why is this? Why wouldn’t God want what is best for us, and give us a perfect, cozy, and comfortable life?

Because we are all as undisciplined children, which need correction in order to achieve our best. “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15). God has to deal with us as children—and ones who are fallen, naturally selfish, and who have been strangers to God. True, if we are Christians, we are brought into fellowship with God, but we are restored to fellowship as infants: this is why the Bible says that we are born again. We are as spiritual children.

“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” -Hebrews 12:7-8

God is teaching us to depend on Him. Just as the law, and the Ten Commandments was meant to show us our futility and inability to fulfill the righteousness of God, so too in our everyday lives, God is bringing circumstances into our life that will teach us to come to Him in prayer.

If our lives were all perfect, would we ever need to pray? Would we ever seek God? Would we ever give thanks for the blessings of His hand?

Look at the warning in the Old Testament, given to the children of Israel as a caution against too much comfort and ease from the blessings of God:

“When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;” -Deuteronomy 8:10-14

The very same warning ought to apply to us today: comfort and ease can take us off track and make us forget our need and dependency on God.

How Jesus’ commandment to His disciples relates to the search for the perfect spouse

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

Two elements ought to be noticed in the above verse, the first is who we are to love: one another. The second is how we are to love: as Christ has loved the church.

When Jesus said to love one another, He was originally speaking to His eleven remaining disciples (minus Judas), though it is applicable to us today as well. But something to note about Jesus’ disciples was that many of them were from different backgrounds, and probably had different temperaments and personalities and opinions: some were simple fisherman, some, like Peter, were very outspoken, others were perhaps quieter, and still others, such as Matthew, were more of city-dwellers.

“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” -Matthew 10:2-4

Notice in the above verses, that one of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew, was a publican: that is to say, a tax collector. Back in those days, tax collectors were seen as being very low, dishonest, and despised by the general public. They are, in one place in scripture, put on the same moral level as prostitutes: “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31b).

Yet despite all of the differences among Jesus’ disciples, Jesus commands them all to love one another. He did not say, “come to an agreement, and be all of the same personality, and of the same temperament, and of the same personal opinion and view as one another, and then in this perfection you’ll be able to get along and love one another.” Certainly none of the disciples were without their flaws, and yet Jesus told them all to love one another.

Just how does this relate to finding a “perfect spouse,” and searching after that elusive partner that has a perfect compatibility with you?

First of all, God sometimes wants to challenge us, and will bring a person that may be close to what we were hoping for, but not quite perfect. He purposely leaves flaws and shortcomings to teach us to love. Yet this should never mean that we violate Scripture and marry an unbeliever, for the Bible is clear: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

And we see an even clearer insight into this principle when we consider the second part of Christ’s command:

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

We know that we are called to love one another, but it’s also helpful to understand the second part, as I have loved you.

And how has Christ loved us? In our perfection? Because we were sinless, and worthy?

Quite the opposite. Jesus Christ loved us despite all our faults. Not only that, but He even died for the very ones that hated Him. He loved those that killed Him.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8

In the verse above, coupled to Christ’s new command to love one another as He has loved us, it is clear that we are to love others unconditionally. We are to love others, despite their sin.

This is a very hard thing to do.

Actually, without the help of the Holy Ghost, it is impossible. Yet we see, for the believer, even in everyday life, we require God’s help to get us through our daily tasks. Even in a blissful state of marriage, we need God’s grace to bear with the shortcomings of our partner.

And if there is any worthy station of life for the Christian, whereever he may be called unto, God’s grace and love is always required. There is no “perfect” place for the Christian outside of God’s grace. Short of heaven, we will ever be resting upon God’s providence, His daily portion of love to sustain us. In our imperfect job, at our imperfect church, with our imperfect spouse, and imperfect children, in all things, we are commanded to submit to the will of God, and to love. We are called as a divine calling of God, each day of our lives, to love with the love of Jesus Christ.

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” -1 John 4:7-11

I thought it fitting to quote some excerpts from Martin Luther’s letter “Concerning Christian Liberty,” which has been translated from the original German into English. Luther has done such an amazing job of describing redemption, and the exchanged life with Christ in marvelous language, that it bears repeating some 500 years after the fact.

Concerning Christ as husband to His church:

In this is displayed the delightful sight, not only of communion, but of a prosperous warfare, of victory, salvation, and redemption. For, since Christ is God and man, and is such a Person as neither has sinned, nor dies, nor is condemned, nay, cannot sin, die, or be condemned, and since His righteousness, life, and salvation are invincible, eternal, and almighty,—when I say, such a Person, by the wedding-ring of faith, takes a share in the sins, death, and hell of His wife, nay, makes them His own, and deals with them no otherwise than as if they were His, and as if He Himself had sinned; and when He suffers, dies, and descends to hell, that He may overcome all things, and since sin, death, and hell cannot swallow Him up, they must needs be swallowed up by Him in stupendous conflict. For His righteousness rises above the sins of all men; His life is more powerful than all death; His salvation is more unconquerable than all hell.

Thus the believing soul, by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its Husband Christ. Thus He presents to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that is, by faith in the word of life, righteousness, and salvation. Thus He betrothes her unto Himself “in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies” (Hosea ii. 19, 20).

Who then can value highly enough these royal nuptials? Who can comprehend the riches of the glory of this grace? Christ, that rich and pious Husband, takes as a wife a needy and impious harlot, redeeming her from all her evils and supplying her with all His good things. It is impossible now that her sins should destroy her, since they have been laid upon Christ and swallowed up in Him, and since she has in her Husband Christ a righteousness which she may claim as her own, and which she can set up with confidence against all her sins, against death and hell, saying, “If I have sinned, my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned; all mine is His, and all His is mine,” as it is written, “My beloved is mine, and I am His” (Cant. ii. 16). This is what Paul says: “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” victory over sin and death, as he says, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. xv. 56, 57).

And concerning the various religions of only “good works,” which has ensnared many in false religions, Luther compares it to a formidable beast, a leviathan:

Now this leviathan, this perverted notion about works, is invincible when sincere faith is wanting. For those sanctified doers of works cannot but hold it till faith, which destroys it, comes and reigns in the heart. Nature cannot expel it by her own power; nay, cannot even see it for what it is, but considers it as a most holy will. And when custom steps in besides, and strengthens this pravity of nature, as has happened by means of impious teachers, then the evil is incurable, and leads astray multitudes to irreparable ruin. Therefore, though it is good to preach and write about penitence, confession, and satisfaction, yet if we stop there, and do not go on to teach faith, such teaching is without doubt deceitful and devilish. For Christ, speaking by His servant John, not only said, “Repent ye,” but added, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. iii. 2).

For not one word of God only, but both, should be preached; new and old things should be brought out of the treasury, as well the voice of the law as the word of grace. The voice of the law should be brought forward, that men may be terrified and brought to a knowledge of their sins, and thence be converted to penitence and to a better manner of life. But we must not stop here; that would be to wound only and not to bind up, to strike and not to heal, to kill and not to make alive, to bring down to hell and not to bring back, to humble and not to exalt. Therefore the word of grace and of the promised remission of sin must also be preached, in order to teach and set up faith, since without that word contrition, penitence, and all other duties, are performed and taught in vain.

You can read the full text of this work here.