The Kind of Encouragement You Don't Want

There is a downside to the fact that God wants what is best for us: He is willing to do whatever it takes to get us to cooperate with His plan. 

If you subscribe to the concept of free will, then God is never going to force us to do anything.  But He will arrange circumstances to "encourage" us to move toward Him.

Hebrews 12:7 tells us to "endure hardship as discipline."  I'm not sure when the word discipline got its negative connotation, but, originally, it was a positive thing.  Discipline meant "instruction which aims at increasing virtue" (BLB).  And that's how the author of Hebrews is using the word, too.  He says, "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness," and discipline "produces a harvest of righteousness and peace" (Hebrews 12:10-11).

Holiness.  Righteousness.  Peace.

These are all things I want.  These are all things God wants for me.  But when I can't see how obeying God in a given situation is going to help me reach these goals, God is willing to do whatever He has to in order to adjust my vision.  He is willing to send hardship.  He is willing to discipline in the hopes that I will be trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

He can correct me all day long, but if I refuse to learn from the discipline, I'll never share in his holiness or righteousness or peace.   Instead, I'll stay in my selfishness and turmoil.  And God, in turn, will have to tweak my circumstances once again in order to show me the way I am operating is not in my best interest. 

A long time ago, God told Jeremiah, "In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction" (Jeremiah 2:30).  God was exasperated with Israel!  Year after year they traded His Glory for worthless idols (Jeremiah 2:11).  The rest of the book tells of how Israel is unwilling to do what is in their best interest.  They are unwilling to be trained by the discipline God has been employing.  He is going to have to go to extreme measures if He wants to convince Israel that their idol worship is bad for them.  So He does.  He lets Judah be conquered, and the Israelites were taken into captivity for 70 years.

SEVENTY YEARS!

I don't want God to have to go to extremes to get my attention.  I don't want Him to have to keep turning up the heat because I am so stubborn I refuse to pursue what's best for me.  I want to respond immediately to His discipline.  I want to be trained by it.  I want to trust Him enough to obey Him even when I can't see how anything good will come from it.

A Penny for Your Praise

In case you've ever wondered, the key to winning my affection is to praise me a whole lot.

Like a puppy in obedience school, my tail wags, and I jump up and down uncontrollably anytime anyone throws a compliment my way.  Since childhood society has been teaching me that if I perform well, I get metaphorical treats in the form of good grades, kind words, and pats on the back.  Conversely, if I perform poorly, I experience ridicule, feelings of isolation, and my self-worth goes down the toilet.

I want that praise.  I need that praise.  

The good news is that this is a legitimate longing.  It is not wrong or bad to desire encouragement and appreciation.

The bad news is I tend to ALWAYS look to people for my confidence boost.   And, in case you haven't noticed, people are fickle.  They are unreliable.  They are here today and gone tomorrow.  And even the more consistent people are incapable of heaping on enough praise to satisfy my constantly wavering self-esteem.  People don't have that kind of time and energy to make their life's mission to encourage me (or you).

The Bible goes so far as to say that people who trust in men for their strength are cursed (Jeremiah 17:5).  Cursed?  Seems harsh.  In the next verse, the Lord says that those of us who trust in men instead of God "will be like [bushes] in the wastelands; [we] will not see prosperity when it comes.  [We] will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives" (Jeremiah 17:6). 

So we are stuck with a great big problem.  We need praise and encouragement.  But when we seek it from those around us, we feel like we are dying of thirst, unable to recognize blessings in our lives, overwhelmed with loneliness.

In a word, we are cursed. 

I can vouch for this.  My favorite place to seek encouragement is from godly men.  I want to know that men I respect love me.  I want men my dad's age to tell me they are proud of me.  I want men my brother's age to tell me they believe in me.  Basically, I want all men everywhere to praise me every second of every day.

What, too much?

The funny thing is my soul would still say THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!

But God doesn't leave us hanging.  We aren't destined to be cursed.  He offers us a way out.

Verse 7 says, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit" (Jeremiah 17:7).

When we go to God to get our praise needs met, we have a constant source of nourishment.  We are unfazed by difficult circumstances.  When no one is there to encourage us, we don't worry.  Instead, we remain confident and continue to mature in our faith. 

In a word, we are blessed.

It's easier to look to people for affirmation.  But it is infinitely more satisfying to look to God.

Daily Dose of Grace

I hope you never get tired of hearing about grace.  I guess if you did you would've stopped coming here a long time ago.

A writer I enjoy, Jon Acuff, wrote about grace today, and he marveled at the idea that a holy God is also a God of second chances.  Actually, this side of death, He is a God of innumerable chances.  Whether we believe in God or not, every single day God gives us chances to choose Him.  But that isn't even the most amazing part.  

The mind-blowing part is that God gives us chances to choose Him even though we've NOT chosen Him COUNTLESS times before.

Who does that?!  Who in their right mind offers that kind of grace?  Even the "best" people tire of turning the other cheek.  Even the most loving people retreat from hurtful relationships after being taken advantage of umpteen times.  Even the most Christlike people give up on those who neglect them for too long.

Surely the God of the universe, perfect in every way, has the right to rescind His offer of unconditional love and His promise of Heaven if we show Him we don't want Him one too many times.  

Make no mistake, He DOES have every right to do that...

But He chooses not to...

He chooses to give us another chance to know Him and experience His unfailing love TODAY, no matter how we've rejected Him in the past.  And, if we wake up tomorrow, He'll give us another chance then, too...

Why?

Because He loves us. (Jeremiah 31:3; Zephaniah 3:17)

That's it.  It is no more complicated than that. 

 

God wants to give YOU grace. 

GOD wants to give you grace.

God WANTS to give you grace.

God wants to GIVE you grace.

God wants to give you GRACE!