Taking my eyes off myself

This morning I was reading Oswald Chambers installment for October 21st which focused on sanctification: What is it and how does it apply to my life today.

First it isn’t something that I ask God for. He gave it when I came to Christ. Christ did everything already. As Tony Evens said during one of our Chapels when I was at Moody, “You don’t need to do anything because it’s already been did”.

Sanctification is giving my life over to Jesus and allowing the holiness that is His (that is now mine as a believer) to pour out and through me.

My wife once read a book about the rooms in her life. The premise was that we all have rooms that we are more than willing to share with God; our works, our church attendance, our sacrificial giving of our selves to ministries within our church, so on and so forth…the pretty stuff. But there are always rooms we keep locked and say, “No Jesus, you don’t want to go in there. I haven’t made the beds and well, frankly (in a whispered tone we say)…it’s a mess.” What am I talking about? A short list might be; anger, jealousy, addictive behaviors, laziness, gluttony…you get the idea.

Jesus knows that already, before you told Him.

And that’s what sanctification is all about. You and I unlocking those doors [of our own free will] and saying, “It’s a mess, I want to clean it up…will you help?” [because we still believe it's us doing it].

When we get to that point, and come to Him, He will. But when we open that door we find the room in already in order. He was already there, working, we just had to acknowledge His sovereignty in our life completely and not just in the chosen, best-of-show areas.

When I left Ecuador I had flown nearly 3,000 hours without one accident or even and incident. Not a scratch on any plane I flew.

And it wasn’t because I only flew on pretty days. In fact, the last two and a half years there I flew 20% more than any of the other pilots. I took extra flights when the weather was crummy, or the legs were long over the Andes in IFR conditions, or just exhausting days on the weekends with 20 or so take-offs and landings.

How did I do it?

Of course God’s protection first and foremost. But one of the moving parts in God’s protection mechanism for me was in how He wired me. You see, my nature is always to say, “What if?” Some people say I’m a little paranoid when it comes to safety issues. That was a trait that was developed while a flight student at Moody Aviation [where it was inrgained in the training]. Then after joining MAF it was one of our mantras; “What if?”. It’s a key link in breaking the accident chain.

What if:

• A child is hiding in the grass by the strip”?
• What if their’s a mountain inside that cloud on that ridge?
• What if the wind direction changes on this one-way strip on final approach?
• What if the surface of that dirt strip has more water standing on that I can see?
• What if the turbo fails on take-off?

The answers to all of these had answers and I practiced thinking through my responses through out the day as I made decisions that ultimately affected the lives of hundreds of people I carried on-board my MAF aircraft the 7 years I flew in Ecuador.

But this natural safety device is a two edged sword I have found, something I have to turn off in my walk with God somedays. Sometimes, I have to admit, that I don’t have the answer to some of the what-ifs in life. I have to recognize that only He does and I have to trust Him. (Proverbs 3: 5,6)

Some days, many days actually, I am like Peter getting out of that boat and walking on top of the waves in that tumultuous Sea of Galilee. Once I take my eyes off Jesus, though, and realize I am in deep water, I begin to sink.

So what’s the point?

Sanctification then is taking my eyes off of myself and putting my gaze back on Him. I have to open that door to that messy room in my soul and let His holiness manifest itself.

Pray for Sudan this week

A missionary serving in Africa shared the following with us:

“Perhaps you have heard on the news that the political party of Southern Sudan (called the SPLM—Sudan People’s Liberation Movement), has decided to withdraw from participation in the national government. They’re saying that the national leaders, based in Khartoum in the North, have failed to carry out the requirements of the North-South peace agreement signed in 2005. What this means for Sudan, I don’t think anyone knows. The government in Khartoum is now facing enormous pressure from all sides, within and without—there is the Darfur conflict raging in the west, there is political dissatisfaction brewing among the tribes of the far north and east, the Southerners are protesting after less than two years under a peace deal, and international attention is focused on this nation like it probably never has been before. I get the feeling that Sudan is on the brink of something major. All-out war could be imminent, and underneath it all is where the real battle is being fought—the spiritual one. This is a crucial moment.”

“Pray specifically for:

• The believers in Sudan, who are scattered throughout the country:

• that they will be united in a spirit of repentance and humility;

• that they will lead the way in putting aside all pointing fingers and malicious talk, all corruption and exploitation (Isaiah 58);

• that they will cry out to God for the sake of their nation, with a 2 Chronicles 7:14 spirit. It seems to me that no amount of prayers from the outside could have the same effect as prayers coming from within Sudan, from the Sudanese themselves.

• Pray that they seek God’s face, in this moment.

• Also pray for the leaders of the government, that they will act humbly, in full recognition that their decisions affect the 37 million people of Sudan. Ask God for this to be a turning point for good in this nation.”

We were asked to fast and pray for this country and this missionary this week. Will you join us?

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