December 27

‘The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external word.’ – Oswald Chambers

                We cannot wait for circumstance to present an opportunity for personal spiritual growth. When we exercise our will to believe in God and in so doing, begin a relationship with Him, we must clean out those things which we recognize will keep us from Him. We should include in our daily prayers, a prayer for the power to introspectively discern which distractions we are coddling. Once they are identified, we must have the will to take an unforgiving look at the utility of these desires. Are they in accordance with God’s will? Do they add value to our relationship with others? Do they help us to identify with those whom we are called to witness?

                This task is both straightforward and complicated simultaneously. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, God’s law is perfectly clear. We recognize the things which produce discord between us and God. I cannot verbalize how we know; I simply know from my own experience that this is true. The behavior we should exemplify is immediately apparent and easily followed. When we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, we must consciously choose those behaviors which are in discord with God’s law. The moment of choice is apparent.

                However, identification of the behavior does not negate the behavior itself. We must choose to cast it aside. It is at this point that this process of introspection becomes complicated. We take comfort in our behaviors for a variety of reasons. Not least of which is the habitual nature of Man. The dieter, for example, knows that pastry is antithetical to weight loss, yet still yearns for the morning doughnut if it has become routine.

                Like the dieter, we must reconcile these behaviors before placing ourselves in a situation which might test them. We must prepare for spiritual battle with the understanding that we are, first and foremost, our own greatest obstacle. Failure to do so will result in relapse of sin.

                We cannot expect God to miraculously relieve us of our desire and vice. God’s gift of free will does not end with the choice to choose Him. We must continually choose to prune away the non-producing branches of our fig tree so that the fruit that we are able to bear will be plumper.

                To expect God to instantly negate our desire is to test God. We are never to test God. There is no point in it. God has not only invented the test, but passed it in exemplary manner through His son Jesus Christ. Moreover, when we test God, we are admitting a lack of faith in Him. Instead, we must trust in Him daily to guide us to be born again in thought word and deed.