There is a song that I sang in church as a child and for the past few days, this song has been ringing in my heart. It says:-
"🎶Let me lose myself and find it, Lord, in Thee.
🎶May all self be slain, my friend, see only Thee.
🎶Though it costs me grief and pain,
🎶I will find my life again.
🎶If I lose myself I'll find it, Lord, in Thee🎶.
Jesus told his disciples that
“if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24). Self denial is a very important character trait for a child of God to possess and Jesus makes it very clear. Why? Because following God is not easy, and if the focus is not on Him, we might stray when things get rough.
An important part of the song says,
🎶I could not pay the price,
Would not make the sacrifice;
🎶So I wandered on and on for many years🎶.
I remember my former place of worship that I attended from my teenage years until adulthood. This is where I had the best and worst experiences among church folks. As years passed and I grew in the Lord, I realised these experiences were necessary for my spiritual development and maturity. Looking back at the bad times, I've concluded that Jesus never called us to be comfortable nor did he promise us wealth, prosperity or long life in this temporary world, instead, he promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-5, "...We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
The above verses remind us, that even in the midst of pain or suffering, we can know that God is refining us. We are called to endure, knowing that our hope in Christ will not put us to shame.
Through suffering we build character, which births hope, and then God's love saturates our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This is more than we can ever imagine!
Spiritual maturity is a process that takes time, and sometimes pain and discomfort. Jeremiah wrote that the clay is molded in the Potter's hand. What better place to be broken and molded but in God's hands.
Everything God uses must be broken, even the bread at the Lord's supper is first broken then served. We too as God's Saints will be ripe for service when we are processed, tried and purified by fire.
Heavenly Father may we selflessly lose ourselves and find it all in you.
Marcel and Jackie Bruff
@walkgoodinchrist
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