Cathy's Corner

Cathy’s Corner

 

Oswald Chambers - “The Secret of the Lord”

What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us?  At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself – to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ’s idea of prayer –“Your will be done” – that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us – He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

“Him shall He teach in the way He chooses” (Psalm 25:12). At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God. But then as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, “I wonder why I shouldn’t do this?” God instructs us in what we choose, that is, He actually guides our common sense. And when we yield to His teachings and guidance, we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking, “Now, Lord, what is Your will?”

I underlined that last part because that is one of the things I have the most trouble with. I’m fully aware of God’s presence around me, within me and guiding me. But when it comes to the sense of doubt or restraint then I often miss it. I know I shouldn’t but most of the time I don’t even realize it until it’s too late and then I look back and think, ”Yep that was God trying to tell me whoa.” Like Tuesday morning, I was getting ready to ride my bike to church. Gary came and told me that there were thunderstorms rolling in and would be here in twenty minutes, wouldn’t last long and then it’d be over. So I kept getting ready, did my quiet time and got ready to walk out the door.  I hesitated and the thought crossed my mind to go turn the television on and look at the radar, but nah, I knew it had been fifty minutes since Gary had left and so the rain was long gone. I walked out the door and it was sprinkling, I hesitated but nah, I thought it was the end of the rain. Got on my bike and started down the street. Made it about three blocks and it started sprinkling a little harder, and the farther away from the house I got the harder it began raining. Soon it was dripping off my helmet, mascara was running into my eyes, and I was getting soaked. I was about halfway and I could hear it thunder and saw lightening in the distance. “Well this was a stupid idea!!” I yelled out to no one, because everyone else had the sense to come out of the rain and be inside a house or a car, nice and dry. When I got here, there was not one dry spot on my clothes or body. My shoes were filled with water, not just squishy wet but water in them. I got ready and went and put my clothes in the dryer. As I walked out of the preschool I ran into someone who used to teach in preschool. I said. “Hey how are you, I haven’t seen you in forever.” She said. “Oh Cathy, I didn’t recognize you without makeup.” That’s like adding insult to injury because I had makeup on when I left the house. Then on Wednesday night I found out someone else was on the phone with their wife when I rode up and he told her how wet I was. She was telling him to stop laughing or at least not to let me see him laughing.  So when doubts enter my mind or I seem to hesitate and think maybe I should do something or not do something, I’m going to try to stop. Then I’m going to ask myself is that God trying to guide my common sense and if so then Lord help me listen!  

 

Have a great day in the Lord.