Day: November 14, 2008

Oswald Chambers for today

November 14, 2008
Discovering Divine Design
As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . . —Genesis 24:27

We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2  ). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. “. . . the Lord led me . . .” and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.

We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.

Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.

Lion in my house

I just woke up from a dream.   When it started, I was afraid. I was in a house, but not this house.  It was big, and I had dreamt of it before–and every time I’d dreamed of it, I’d been afraid, deeply afraid.  Not of the house or the things in it–I’d just been scared, scared like a little kid is scared of the dark. 

Except it wasn’t dark.

And following my every step was a lion.  He was big, with an enormous mane, and looked like he could have eaten me in a couple of large bites if he’d been so inclined.

But he didn’t. 

He just followed me.  Now that I think about it, the house was more like a mansion.  The hallways were long, all with long runners, and there were lots of stairs.  And many doors.

                                          (in my father’s house are many mansions)

And everywhere I went I could see the lion out of the corner of my eye.  I would turn a corner, he would turn it right after me.  It was like he was just hanging back enough that I could always see him.

He was always there.

Everything I did, every mundane task I performed, he was there.  Behind me. 

Following me.

I don’t remember feeling afraid, either.  I was oddly comforted.  It was almost as if he were protecting me.  I remember thinking of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

                                                 “He’s not a tame lion….”

I could sense the fierceness of this lion, right beneath the surface.  Watching over me.  I did not think about what dreaming of a lion meant at the time, I was just enjoying the comfort and safety I felt in this enormous house, where before I had been afraid.  But it’s been all I can think about since I started writing this, at 430am.

That’s what my life has been lately.  I have been walking around in an enormous mansion.  It’s so big, so intimidating in its scope.  There are so many rooms, so many hallways.  So many stairs to climb.

And I have been so afraid.

Afraid to explore this enormous house, this mansion.  Afraid to climb the stairs, because I don’t know what’s at the top.

Afraid to open doors.

But a lion is with me.  He is at my back–but not following me like a pet. 

He is no pet.

He is wild, and fierce, and with him I am safe.  And something tells me he has always been there at my back. 

I just never saw him before.

Yes, it was just a dream.

But considering how I’ve been feeling lately, it didn’t go how I’d have thought a dream would go.  I did not dream that my fears disappeared in a puff of smoke.  No, they were still there.  But because the Lion was with me, I was less afraid, and sometimes not afraid at all.

And this time, the first time I saw the Lion, that feeling stayed with me when I woke.

Think of it what you will, that dream brought me the first comfort I’d felt in many days.

And it stayed with me.