{my utmost for his highest}

I've had Oswald Chambers' well known devotional, "My Utmost for His Highest" on my book shelf for 10 years.  As I was looking inside the front cover while I was reading it last night, I saw the year 2000 scribbled in my hand writing and I could barely believe 10 years have passed. 

The small brown book came into my possession my senior year of high school and while everyone spoke of Oswald's amazing wisdom in reference to our faith, my simple mind just couldn't grasp a lot of what he was saying.  It traveled with me to college where I would find myself occasionally flipping through the pages to the corresponding date looking for some kind of respite for my searching soul, and still find myself distracted & not at a level for full comprehension of what I was reading...  Fast forward to a few months ago where a friend was discussing this devotional and I remembered it was collecting dust on my book shelf and I immediately got excited and was overcome with an ache to read this little book.

This time as I've read the words of Oswald Chambers, whether it's in the little book I have or the web version, utmost.org, I find myself clinging to his words, his wisdom, and my mind and my soul are in a complete place of understanding and longing for this type of wisdom, relationship, and total abandon to the Lord the he speaks of.

Just wanted to share with you yesterday's devotional that totally resonated with my soul and brings clarity through a different lens, looking at the purpose of life that I live as a believer and follower of Christ and freedom and joy that is offered.

’. . . and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.’ . . . But they understood none of these things . . . —Luke 18:31, 34

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s. But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose.

 

This bewildering call of God comes into our lives as well. The call of God can never be understood absolutely or explained externally; it is a call that can only be perceived and understood internally by our true inner-nature. The call of God is like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated, because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes. Our real test is in truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not happen by chance— they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly working out His own purposes.

If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are. As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?” And we begin to see that the compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose. A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.

{happy.friday.friends}

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