Traction with God is not a matter of “Doing” but rather “Being.” We think Doing, working, advancing the Kingdom stuff is the glue in our relationship with the God we love to pretend we love. But God calls us to Be so that we can Do, not to Do so that we can Be. It’s all about Being, Being in the Beloved... Being in Christ... for in Being we find our new life in Him. If we will just Be in Christ at home, at work, in the marketplace... all the time, the Doing will take care of itself. We simply cannot hide Christ if we are in Him and He is in us. We can Do without Being -- Ishmael works abound as attested to by Uzzah -- but we can’t Be without Doing.
“God does whatever He pleases”: We allegorize scriptures and our experiences with unwarranted spiritual “spin” creating supposition to explain God when He doesn’t do what our theology says He should be doing. What accords with His will and brings satisfaction to His heart... God simply does, not because of anything we do, and often in spite of what we do, and regardless of our attempts to influence and coerced... God simply does of His good pleasure... He does! Signs, wonders, miracles, healings... power manifested, are gifts of grace apportioned to each person individually, if, when and how the Holy Spirit chooses. God manifests purposefully, viewing our desires through the lens of His divine perspective... some pressure here... a blessing there, shaping, always shaping! Maybe we should fact-check our “theology”, like the Bereans!
The danger of being Cold is eternal damnation. The danger of being Lukewarm is the loss of our first love. The danger of being Hot is drinking one’s own bathwater. Hot “on fire” Christians can so want God to manifest in particular ways they subjectively interpret scriptures and experiences spinning spiritualized explanations why God isn’t doing what they “think” He has promised to do. We need to focus on Transformation, nailing Self to the Cross so the Christlife within can emerge, and let God manage the divine encounters, be they signs, miracles or goose-bumps. God jumps into our sandbox whenever and however He chooses... purposefully doing, or not doing, whatever is best for us... as a means to His end... whether we like it or not!
Consider the old tale of the Scorpion and the Frog. The spring rains have swollen the creek, submerging the rocks and leaving the Scorpion no way to cross. He approaches the Frog and says “Brother Frog, with your strong legs you still cross the creek each day with ease. Won’t you carry me across on your back”? “Do you think I’m a fool’? the Frog asks. “If I let you climb on my back you’ll sting me and I’ll die.” “That’s ridiculous,” the Scorpion replies. “If I were to sting you while we’re crossing the creek we’ll both drown.” The Frog thinks it over, agrees the Scorpion’s argument makes sense, and obligingly lets his neighbor climb up on his back for the trip across the stream. Half-way across the Scorpion stings him. With paralysis spreading through his limbs the doomed Frog has time to croak out one more question before they both slip beneath the surging waters to their death. “Why did you do that,” the Frog asks. “Now we’re both going to die.” ‘I couldn’t help it,” the Scorpion replies, “It’s just in my nature.” Without Transformation... Without Christlikeness... Without Christ’s indwelling nature, Self, the old Scorpion within will prevail... and we will die!
IT’S JUST IN MY NATURE
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