The Pleasure of Change

“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Th 1:11-12 AV)

There are three stages of attitudes towards the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It usually depends on what area of our lives which He is addressing.  The first stage is yielding because we do not know what else to do.  Like a child in his early ages, we yield because we know the consequences are worse if we do not.  Then we mature to the ‘duty’ way of looking at it.  We yield to the work of the Holy Spirit because we are supposed to.  We see it as obedience.  Which it is.  Our lack of maturity hinders us from seeing it any other way.  If we continue to yield, the LORD has a way of marrying the desire to avoid consequences of disobedience with the desire for obedience into a pleasure of goodness.  What is impressing the heart this morning is one little word.  Just one simple word that sums up the heart of God towards His children.  One little word that is the measure of His commitment towards those whom He loves.  One three letter word that puts our relationship in a nut shell.  This one little three letter words explains everything that happens to us.  That one little three letter word is ‘all’.

I have been involved in education for a number of years.  There is a difference between high school and college.  Between the teen years and early adulthood.  It amazes me every time I witness these young people working so hard at all they have to learn.  Specially when one thinks of all the disciplines they are learning at the same time.  There is math, English, sciences, history, music, Bible, and life skills.  On top of all they have to learn in school, they have chores at home which they are learning life skills; church, wherein they learn spiritual truths; and social interaction wherein they learn interpersonal skills.  These young people are a sponge that are constantly soaking up information and abilities from a plethora of different directions all at the same time.  College allows them to hone in on one particular field of interest while allowing all other areas to be secondary.  The importance of growing in all areas cannot be understated.  Even if they do not see the need for what they are learning today, in time, they will understand the need for it as the age.  Dedication to the whole person is what causes the individual to mature correctly.

This is the sense of that one little three letter word.  The LORD loves us way too much to ignore details for a greater goal.  All aspects of life are important.  All spiritual truth is important.  All disciplines of life are important.  The LORD will not allow one area of our lives to remain dormant and only concentrate on a few.  Our Father knows that we have much to learn and not enough time to learn it.  He works without ceasing on every area of our lives.  To our Father, this work is a good pleasure.  If we mature correctly, we can attain that third level, appreciating the hand of God.  We will yield to His hand not because we want to avoid His chastening or not because we are supposed to.  Rather, like a student who loves to learn any and all things, we will yield to His hand because it is a good pleasure.   All of it!