All Grown Up: Recalling the Wisdom of the Ages, Holding Fast to God's Unchanging Word

God's Unchanging Word

In the trials of our lives, God walks with us. We make choices we should not, and yet, He loves us unconditionally—all of us—His sinful, willful, sometimes belligerent, confused, know-it-all children. We seem either unaware of that love, unaffected by that love, or we are fully enveloped in the essence of that love.

What causes some of us to fully accept that love and others to be impervious to it? Why do some find themselves in the in-between spaces of that love or denying it altogether and still others immerse themselves in the love of God, seek to do His will, and to follow His good purpose for their lives? I understand, no matter how young or old we are, we can from time to time be the same foot stomping, fit throwing children we were in our early years—not literally, but children, nonetheless, demanding our lives look exactly as the picture we see in our minds. Perhaps that is the key to why we do the things we do not only in our relationship with God but also in our relationship with others.

We want what we want when we want it and we will do whatever is necessary to have it.

The world and its societal and cultural norms tell us we can do exactly that. When the desires of our hearts lead us and when those desires are in conflict with God’s good purpose for our lives, we find ourselves standing in disobedience. But, we consider ourselves all grown up, so, of course, we know what is best not only for ourselves but also for all those around us. We give little thought to God’s will for our lives because we know who we are, and we know clearly the place God holds in our lives. Our path is clear. That is, until that time in our lives when we recall the only true wisdom of the ages and seek that truthful path for our lives or we learn of the reality of that truth for the first time.

The world, society, and culture remain loyal to us and devoted to our care as long as we agree with the subjective truth these false teachers introduce into our lives. Deviate from that path, and we find ourselves the pariah standing outside a selective circle that really is not so selective after all. They will take anyone who agrees with them. That circle embraces us until we turn from them and seek absolute truth. When the world and those of it walk out, God remains. He does not let go. He knows us. He loves us. No matter the circle from which we come to Him, God wants none of us to perish.

Satan is the cunning one. He likes to keep us thinking that we walk in truth. He gives us permission to be men and women of selfish ambition and vain conceit. His desire is that we value ourselves above others, look to our own interests, all the while telling ourselves we are men and women of faith doing God’s will and following His purpose for our lives. We act as though we are in relationship with God, that ours is the mindset of Christ Jesus, but in reality, we leverage God and use Him to our advantage. Let us not forget...sin does love company which only makes it easier for any one of us at any given time to rationalize our sin life.

God sees us. He knows our plans, the choice we make. He understands our purpose. What God wants for us does not come from a social justice platform or from our own self-will. None of that unites us with Christ nor do those things allow our lives to demonstrate the love of Christ within us. We might tell ourselves following certain societal and cultural norms make us more compassionate and tender people, but that assessment is wrong. God’s will for our lives is biblical and the things we do must be in alignment with His Word.

Biblical wisdom is lacking when the human will and human plans become the center of it all. Some with their save the world crusades turn hearts, minds, and souls away from God even though they proclaim the will of God and the heart of Jesus in all that they do. Looking deeply into those agendas, I see many who proclaim their intent to save the world, but where is the foundation of biblical truth in these? Your salvation and mine will not come from human will, from human plans, or from any human purpose.

Obedience to truth becomes a problem when we focus too much attention on ourselves and what we desire or when we follow what we see others doing or what we perceive them to be thinking. Whether we consider ourselves to be right or wrong is not the issue. In fact, our opinion or the opinions of others play no role in our salvation or the salvation of others.

Our understanding of what God asks us to do as citizens of His kingdom should be rooted in biblical truth. If we desire to know the truth that sets us free, comparisons must cease, compromise with God, too. Worrying about the intentions and expectations of others really is a waste of our time and our energy. We have work to do. Our thoughts should rise above the noise, the criticism, and the judgment, whether perceived or real, guiding us away from absolute truth. Looking up and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives, immersing ourselves in the Word of God and walking in complete surrender to God’s will for our lives, we no longer live a life of comparison and compromise, judgment and criticism.

In Philippians 2, Paul writes some clear direction for Timothy, and it follows that as the inspired word of God, those words guide us today. He says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then you will be able to boast on the day of Christ that you did not run or labor in vain” (Philippians 2:12b-16, emphasis mine).

Biblical words like warped and crooked generation seem too harsh for some in this modern age, but anyone who looks around and cannot see the reality of the world in which we live either does not want to see it or is drowning in the hopelessness of it all. I have but one solitary voice in this world. I can change no one, but I can tell you hopelessness fades, confusion disappears, anxiety, anger, frustration, guilt, depression and all the rest find no home in the hearts of those whom God has transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. “But godliness with contentment is great gain....” (See 1 Timothy 6).

As people of all ages and backgrounds become more and more insistent that we follow the will of someone or something outside of God, the One, who some seem to think has disappeared, remains, and though I tire of the rhetoric swirling about and the darkness and deceit from which it comes, I know the God who works in me to will and to act to fulfill His good purpose. That truth may evade some, but others understand and call themselves children of God.

Children of God acknowledge sin loves company, but so, too, does misery. That seems one of Satan’s best defenses against those seeking to do the will of God. We often assign our miserable circumstances to God when, in reality, our choices create those conditions in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Humans are good at playing the blame game and especially good at bringing God into that part of the equation. “When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3).

That sin lives in all of us is true. That we choose sin is also true. Neither God nor Satan are in the business of coercing us into sin. Satan enjoys a good temptation, and he does celebrate our sin. God, however, offers us a way out of our sin, for He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He “is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward [us], not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Our role is not to save the world, but neither are we charged with judging those who see the world differently than we. Anyone who knows how our story ends understands God took care of all of that long ago. So, what is it God wants us to do? We can do nothing to redeem mankind, but we can carry God’s Word to the world with love, grace, and mercy. “Our brother’s ways are not in our hands; we cannot hold together what is breaking; we cannot keep life in what is determined to die. BUT GOD binds elements together in the breaking, creates community in the separation, grants grace through judgment. He has put HIS WORD in our mouth. He wants it to be spoken through us. If we hinder HIS WORD, the blood of the sinning brother will be upon us. If we carry out HIS WORD, GOD will save our brother through us” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community, p. 108, emphasis mine).

God calls us to love, not to criticism, not to judgment, not to division, not to derision, but to the love of God in Christ Jesus. We must carry the true wisdom of the ages with us, the wisdom found in the truth of God’s unchanging Word, the wisdom that unites, and we must offer up Christ’s love to the world serving others in grace, in mercy, and in love. Accepting the light of truth, we live all grown up. "Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead [us]. Let them bring [us] to Your holy mountain and to the place where you dwell" (Psalm 43:3).