Humility Wins Where Force Cannot

In the kingdom of heaven, weak things become mighty and mighty things often prove to be useless. God seeth not as man seeth, and the things that are held in high esteem among men may be scorned by the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth.

That carnal courage so prized in the kingdom of Adam may be the direct cause of constant and humiliating defeat among Christians. God will not be under the necessity of using fleshly means to accomplish His spiritual ends. The bold “strength of character” which helps men to forge to the front, to get the best jobs, to overawe their opponents, may stand squarely in the way of all efforts to progress in the life of the Spirit. God still gives courage to the faint, and He knoweth the proud afar off.

From Adam we inherit the instinct to meet our enemies head on, to try to win by direct assault, and it is only after many shocking failures that we learn that victories are not so won in the realm of the spiritual. The carnal approach usually does little more than to alienate the enemy still further from us and, worse than all, it puts us in a position where God cannot help us. The enemy never quite knows how to deal with a humble man; he is so used to dealing with proud, stubborn people that a meek man upsets his timetable. And furthermore, the man of true humility has God fighting on his side – who can win against God?

Strange as it may seem, we often win over our enemies only after we have first been soundly defeated by the Lord Himself. God often conquers our enemies by conquering us. He defeated Esau by defeating Jacob the night before on the bank of the Jabbok. The conquest of Esau took place in his brother Jacob. It is often so. When God foresees that we must meet a deadly opponent, he assures our victory by bringing us down in humbleness at His own feet. After that, everything is easy. We have put ourselves in a position where God can fight for us, and in a situation like that, the outcome is decided from eternity.

Taken from, "We Travel an Appointed Way" by Dr. A. W. Tozer

We Travel an Appointed Way

To the child of God, there is no such thing as accident. He travels an appointed way. The path he treads was chosen for him when as yet he was not, when as yet he had existence only in the mind of God.

Accidents may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his way; but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden providence and so cannot discover the ends at which He aims.

When true faith enters, chance and mischance go out for good. They have no jurisdiction over them that are born of the Spirit, for such as these are sons of the new creation and special charges of the Most High God.

While sojourning here below, these children of the eternal covenant may pay token tribute to nature; sickness, old age and death may levy upon them, and to the undiscerning eye, they may seem to be as other men. Here, as in all its other judgments upon Christianity, the world is completely fooled by appearances, for it cannot see that these believing ones are "hid with Christ in God." (Col. 3:3)

The man of true faith may live in the absolute assurance that his steps are ordered by the Lord. For him, misfortune is outside the bounds of possibility. He cannot be torn from this earth one hour ahead of the time which God has appointed, and he cannot be detained on earth one moment after God is done with him here. He is not a waif of the wide world, a foundling of time and space, but a saint of the Lord and the darling of His particular care.

All this is not mere dreaming, not a comforting creed woven as a garment to warm the shivering hearts of lonely, frightened souls in a dark and unfriendly world. Rather it is of the essence of truth, a fair summation of the teaching of the Bible on the subject and should be received reverently and joyously along with everything else which is taught in the Scriptures of truth.

Here then I doubt no more
But in His pleasure rest,
Where wisdom, love and truth, and power
Engage to make me blest.

The above is an extract from "We Travel an Appointed Way" by Dr. A. W. Tozer

It is very easy for us to take the Word of God or the encouragement from men of God so as to pick what we want to hear. Sadly a majority of today's Christians do this, fulfilling what the Apostle Paul wrote by the Spirit, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2Tim. 4:3, 4). Praise be to God for those who take the teaching of Scripture for what it is, the truth in all its fullness.

May I suggest that you conduct for yourself a small exercise. Take Psalm 37 for example, a portion from which Tozer made reference to in the extract above. Divide a page into two columns. On one side write what the Psalmist tells us of God and what God will do. On the other, write down what the Psalmist tells us we must do. You will then appreciate that in a relationship there must be faithfulness from both parties. Since God is faithful, for He cannot deny Himself (2Tim. 2:13) it remains for us to be faithful. In prayerful surrender lift up the points that you've written in the column that contains what you need to do and in sincerity of faith commit that you will, by the strength of God, make it a reality in your life. Sow this with willing determination. God will then enable you to reap a harvest.

What is the context of Tozer's writing with what I've just said? It is simply this: As we walk in faith and obedience, loving God and clinging to Him with all our heart in total surrender and submissiveness, we will experience God's hand guiding us in His appointed way. We may rest in total confidence, knowing that we are in His perfect will. "His wisdom, love and truth and power engage to make me blest."

Fear will not have a hold on us. Rather, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our heart and mind (Php. 4:6, 7). Grace (God's favour) and Peace is what the New Testament constantly proclaims as a blessing to all her children.

We have been created in Christ Jesus to travel an appointed way. A way wrought by God before we were created. A way that is higher than our ways. A way that is for our welfare, not for our calamity; to give us a future and a hope. Let us lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us. We will not be disappointed.

Following Hard After God

My soul followeth hard after Thee:

Thy right hand upholdeth me. (Psa. 63:8)

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. "No man can come to Me," said our Lord, "except the Father which hath sent me draw Him," and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming.

The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the out-working of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: "Thy right hand upholdeth me."

In this divine "upholding" and human "following" there is no contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hügel teaches, God is always previous. In practice, however, (that is, where God's previous working meets man's present response) man must pursue God. On our part there must be positive reciprocation if this secret drawing of God is to eventuate in identifiable experience of the Divine.

In the warm language of personal feeling this is stated in the Forty-second Psalm: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?"

This is deep calling unto deep, and the longing heart will understand it. 

An extract from, "The Pursuit of God", by Dr. A. W. Tozer

God Is For Us

He (God) is "for us" with all the infinity of His being, the omnipotence of His love, the infallibility of His wisdom... He is "for us". 

- Charles Spurgeon

Let us consider this when we read the profound words that Paul wrote in Ephesians: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

"Truly my soul finds rest in God; My salvation comes from Him." Psa. 62:1

Not Just Intensity of Prayer

Intensity of prayer is no criterion of its effectiveness. A man may throw himself on his face and sob out his troubles to the Lord and yet have no intention to obey the commandments of Christ. Strong emotion and tears may be no more than the outcropping of a vexed spirit, evidence of stubborn resistance to God's known will....

No matter what I write here, thousands of pastors will continue to call their people to prayer in the forlorn hope that God will finally relent and send revival if only His people wear themselves out in intercession. To such people God must indeed appear to be a hard taskmaster, for the years pass and the young get old and the aged die and still no help comes. The prayer meeting room becomes a wailing wall and the lights burn long, and still the rains tarry.

Has God forgotten to be gracious? Let any reader begin to obey and he will have the answer. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21).

Isn't that what we want after all? 

An Extract from "The Size of the Soul" by Dr. A. W. Tozer