Growing no faster "than grace allows"

excerpt from "God is closer than you think" by John Ortberg

If you find yourself slow in making progress, take heart. Brother Lawrence writes that for ten years "I was worried that my walk with the Lord wasn't good enough ... Sometimes it got so bad that I thought I was on my way to hell - willfully offending God - and that there was no salvation for me." This was the point when Lawrence stopped expecting to grow any faster. When he accepted his own "slowness," he as at last able to begin to live in grace from one moment to the next. He counseled others to be similarly patient. He writes about one person who was full of good intentions but "wants to go faster than grace allows."

Phil 1:8-11 cont...

that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, (NKJV)

What comes to your mind when someone says the word "Love"?

In this era we have made "love" such a transient emotion. The picture most of us would conjure up would be a couple holding hands, smiling dreamily into each others eyes. Or maybe we'd think of a girl so "desperately in love" that she can't help but do anything for the guy of her dreams. (Funnily enough she then "falls out of love" the next week / month / year.)

Sometimes we then apply this same word to our relationship with God. Meaning we think that we "love God" when we "feel" passionately about Him. But Paul talks about our love for God growing in knowledge and discernment?! The picture doesn't seem to fit! Knowledge and discernment (insight, judgement) sound like such hard, intellectual words.

For me, there are two main reasons why it doesn't seem to fit. Firstly we think of love purely as an emotion, particularly the feeling we get when we are romantically in love. We forget that the greatest act of love was one of choice - in which Jesus chose to lay down His life for His enemies (us). I don't think that there was soft music and dreamy eyes in His mind when He prayed at the Garden of Gethsemene.

The second reason is that we think of knowledge and discernment as something intellectual. But to know someone, to truly know them, is different from just knowing about them.

In John 17:3 Jesus says "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." But He wasn't just talking about knowing God intellectually. If you are not convinced, read what Jesus says in John 6:39-40 "You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."

We think we "know" God when we can quote Bible verses or say the 10 commandments by heart. Yet how many of us would say "I know my friend because I know her address, her passport number, her mobile number of by heart"? (I know that analogy doesn't really fit, but I hope you get the point).

I think that is why Paul prays that our love would grow more and more in knowledge and discernment. Because the type of love that God wants from us is one based on our true knowledge of Him as a Person, expressing itself in our ability to discern what He loves and what He hates.

Other interesting translations:
And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment] (AMP)

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding (NLT)

Phil 1:8-11 cont...

And this I pray, that your love may abound

It is so easy to get caught up in the peripheral issues and forget that life is about loving God, and loving people. In fact most of us have heard that particular phrase (loving God and loving people) so often we automatically switch off. It doesn't strike us with excitement to think about such "basic" Christian knowledge. We want to move on - to grow in the "deeper" things of God, to hear about His power, His miracles, and to be used mightily in supernatural ways!

Yet the fact of the matter is that loving God and loving others are the most important things. (Matt 22:37 & 39; Rev 2:1-7, 1 Cor 13).

Eph 2:13 says that now in Christ, we who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ. Once when I read this, it suddenly struck me: In light of the high price Christ paid for true intimacy with me, how much do I really know and love Him?

I have personally found that I need to fight for intimacy. My calendar fills up so quickly , that if I don't pencil some time in for God it'll never happen on its own. And it is so tempting to think that I can make do without my quality time with Him because there are always more pressing and urgent matters. Perhaps that is why Paul prays for love to abound. Because there is a constant fight that makes us lose focus on what life is all about.

May we never "get tired" of growing in our love for God.

Phil 1:8-11

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

It always fascinates me to read what the apostle Paul actually prays for. Whilst writing this letter to the Phillipians, I believe Paul was actually in prison. There could be a 101 things he could be pleading to God for, e.g. to get out of prison, for the guards to be nice to him, for a nice hot shower (I'm assuming the toilet must have been pretty primitive), for yummy home-cooked food... I reckon that's what I'd be asking for! And yet Paul's thoughts are on the Phillipians.

Let's pause and think about it. Is Paul just from another planet OR is it possible that we could, as human beings, be that selfless?

I remember a season when I really wondered about this. Maybe I'm just "not the type" to care. It's not that I don't want to pray sometimes, I reckon it's that it doesn't even occur to me to pray for others because I'm so preoccupied with myself! Not only that, how often do I promise to pray for someone, and only remember to pray once! And then even in my prayers, aren't they usually just one-liners (e.g. God please bless her. Amen). How does Paul come up with all these great prayers that mean so much? And how is it possible that he sincerely wants to pray for others when he himself is in prison!

Sometimes when we open our eyes and see how truly selfish we are, it is pretty demoralising. But you know what? It isn't a surprise to God (that we are selfish, I mean). And it is quite comforting to know that God loves and believes in us anyway. And as we focus on loving Him and learning to love what He loves, we will find ourselves being transformed into His image.

Now as I look back, I know I have grown to care more for people. I know it is not a feeling I conjure up myself. It is not out of guilt that I force myself to care. God can change our hearts. It is possible to start praying prayers like Paul's - AND really mean it too!

Phil 1:3-6

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Does it ever strike you that the apostle Paul must have had an amazing memory? And I don't think he was heaps young when he wrote this letter. And does it ever challenge you that he remembered people so often? Actually it challenges me more that he THANKS God every time he remembers them!

always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,

Isn't it amazing that it fills him with joy to pray for others? Makes me stop and think how many of my prayers are filled with thoughts of others and how much I actually enjoy praying for them.

for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,

Do I KNOW enough about others to pray for them anyway?

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ

This gets me every time. How confident am I in the amazing power, and more importantly, love of God, that will pursue and perfect this salvation started in me? And how confident am I that God will do the same for those I care about?

It hurts to watch people walk away, make wrong decisions, turn their backs on God, or just take little steps in the wrong direction. (After all, it all starts with the little things doesn't it?). At recent times I have felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness, knowing that no matter how much I do care, I cannot make the decision for others and God will not force them to choose the right path either.

Perhaps it was Paul's experience with our persistent God who did not relent in pursuing him that caused Paul to say with confidence that God will complete what He has begun. And just as Paul was confident, I too can be confident that God will complete what He has begun in the lives of my friends and in my life. Of course we still need to make the right choice but as far as God is concerned, there won't be a lack of pursuing on His part. After all, His commitment has already been clearly demonstrated at the cross.

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened? Or have You not heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting … for what?”

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want – But, you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint;
You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there;
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You’d never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You’d know that I give and I save … (for a start),
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that ‘My grace is sufficient for Thee.’
Yes, your dreams for your life overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I’m doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, “WAIT.”

taken from "Perspectives - a spiritual life guide for twentysomethings".
Author unknown