I
will lead her into the desert.....
and speak tenderly to her.......
The
quotation from Hosea chapter 2 continues with, “There I will give her back
her vineyards.” This suggests that when she comes out of the desert
there is work to do!
Ever
since the Flames of Fire conference I have been aware that the
time has come to think seriously about coming out of the desert.
Several incidents led me to feel that the Lord was in fact calling me
out, for this place that so many Christians dread, has become my comfort zone.
But how do I come out of the place in which I have come to feel secure,
the place where it has been easy to find the Lord.
The
desert was chosen as a home by the Desert Fathers as they chose to avoid the
excesses of Rome under Constantine. This
idea was emulated by Celtic Christians who chose remote parts of Wales to be
alone with God. We see evidence of this in place names such as Dysserth and
associate their lifestyles with holiness but devoid of possessions and bodily
comfort. In that light there
is no way that a Twenty-first century Christian equipped with a computer can
follow their path, but in the reality of the spiritual journey we can still
learn a great deal about ourselves, our needs, our selfishness, and about pain
and suffering. If we are
willing we can learn too about the suffering of God and His pain as the world
goes its own way inflicting pain on itself though almost every action.
Such a sharing will bring
forth intercessory prayer but not until we have been thoroughly stripped of our
desires and our solutions. Taken
into a place of helplessness we realise that there is only one appropriate
prayer “Thy will be done and thy name glorified”.
It is a prayer of love and a prayer that the Church has to live as well
as say.
In
her article ”Bruised
Reeds and Smoking Flax”
Pam Worsey speaks of Brokenness.
Before I received her article I knew that we had to look at this desert
in all it’s diversity, for this is our learning place as we prepare for the
next Flames of Fire conference.
I believe that the Lord would have me say something about how we come
out, but this fills me with awe. How
can I speak with any authority about something I have been reluctant to do?
I’ve
spoken before of “Preparing the Way of the Lord”, the
theme of the 2001 conference, as a work we have to do.
That work is
big enough for us all and your part in it may be very different from
mine. In 1998 the Lord gave me a
vision of sweeping a roadway, the “broom” was the new “weapon” and
I’ve had to learn how to use it.
So it was a cleaning up job and I’m useless at housework!
However in the desert I’ve learned a lot about trusting God and
accepting the fact that I can’t do it BUT He can. Back in July I was listening to someone speaking
on Song of Songs Chapter 5, I
realised that I was in the place of testing where He was not directing me and I seemed to be alone.
Only then did I see that He was in fact trusting me to put things into
practice. This was confusing
as I was also aware that He had said, “But you are not willing” in the
context of I what I wanted to do at the Flames of Fire conference.
It has taken time to understand, for it was
so easy to see it as “I was not willing to do it His way”.
But it was more than that, it was not something to learn it was something
to allow.....
After the conference I was drawn to Song of Songs 8:5, I spent time meditating on this, helped by Jerry Rheeder’s session and also C.H. Spurgeon’s book of sermons on the Songs.
|
“Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?”. Song of Songs 8:5 |
I
discovered that it is often misquoted as “leaning on the arm of her beloved”
. This gives a comfortable
image of a bridal couple but it should actually be an image of surrender, an
image of allowing God to do His thing using her body.
That is why this is an image of maturity of the bride, a picture of
holiness and beauty as described in Ephesians 5:27.
The desert or wilderness is the place where each of us needs to be taken
so that the Lord can effect this transformation.
The
result is truly wonderful but how often have you seen it? Glimpses perhaps but to live in this glory, for it is
His glory, is the same as living Galations 2:20.
That crucifixion took place in the desert and now she has to
live......... but not her...... Christ living in her.
So
do I dare come out of the desert when it is meant to be like this?
Can I serve like this? Am
I willing? Are you?
The
magazine this quarter is a mixed bag and gives glimpses of the many ways we are
called to serve. Several
aspects of ministry are described, Marian Barge tells of the Christmas
outreach in the local village pub and Bob and Janet Pitcher reach out to
orphans in Africa. We report
on a good session with Nick Jones at the AGM and discover that God has
already fed Ray Smith with some ideas for action.
Phil
Rees is gently reminding us to wait on the Lord but underneath there is
feeding on His word that has to happen in a solitary place so that we can hear
the prophetic voice. That
voice always calling us to repent and come closer.
But
I had space to fill ....... The Lord led me to our dear friend Brian Favell.
Many of you will know of his writings in The River and he has
graciously consented that I reproduce anything from that source.
Although a few years old his series on Ministry in the Church are
right for us now and so I start
with the Ministry of the Prophet.
So
that mixed bag is the Church engaged in the ministry of His choosing and for
which He equips us in the desert.
Mary Newsom