Living in a Cloud
30-Jan-10
I was driving one windy evening during some snow showers & realized as the road made a bend that it was increasingly hard to see. It wasn’t really snowing that bad, but it was blowing. Later, I realized that after I followed the bend in the road, I was aligned with the direction of the wind, so that I had a tailwind. I also realized that the reason it was difficult to see, was because I was stirring up a powdery snow cloud. The tailwind was then carrying along that cloud of snow with me as I drove. When I turned off the road, the cloud passed & I was able to see more clearly.
The spiritual parallel here is that sometimes we stir up our own dust cloud in our lives. It can seem like we are living in a fog or a funk. Sometimes things just happen to us for various & often unknown reasons. But sometimes it is self-inflicted – its our very own sin. We have a hard time discerning what’s going on. Nothing makes sense. We can’t seem to hear God.
This is because sin is deceptive (Rom 7.11) & if we persist in it, it has a way of hardening us (Heb 3.13) to the things of God which compounds the problem. We then find ourselves going in a direction opposite of God. All the while, we can be going to church & acting like everything is fine, but deep down, there’s sin that needs dealt with; sin that always affects us & usually affects those around us. It isn’t until we make a turn, changing direction in our lives, that we can start to see more clearly again. Then, we can look back & see that “I was making that cloud all along”. This is the biblical concept of repentance – a turning from sin & instead turning to God.
The spiritual parallel here is that sometimes we stir up our own dust cloud in our lives. It can seem like we are living in a fog or a funk. Sometimes things just happen to us for various & often unknown reasons. But sometimes it is self-inflicted – its our very own sin. We have a hard time discerning what’s going on. Nothing makes sense. We can’t seem to hear God.
This is because sin is deceptive (Rom 7.11) & if we persist in it, it has a way of hardening us (Heb 3.13) to the things of God which compounds the problem. We then find ourselves going in a direction opposite of God. All the while, we can be going to church & acting like everything is fine, but deep down, there’s sin that needs dealt with; sin that always affects us & usually affects those around us. It isn’t until we make a turn, changing direction in our lives, that we can start to see more clearly again. Then, we can look back & see that “I was making that cloud all along”. This is the biblical concept of repentance – a turning from sin & instead turning to God.
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Isaiah 59
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. - v.1-2 The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. - v.8-10 He (God) saw that there was no one,
He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm worked salvation for Him, and His own righteousness sustained Him. - v.16 "The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD. - v.20 |
Repentance in essence is a changing of one’s mind (Eph 4.22-24) – agreeing with God that our sin is wrong & that His way is right. At the time of salvation, this is agreeing that we are too sinful & incapable of saving ourselves & then trusting in God’s way of salvation. For repentance leads us to salvation, but it is not salvation itself (2 Cor 7.10). After we’re Christians, repentance is not maintaining our salvation status (Christ has perfectly secured that once & forever – Heb 7.25, 10.14, 1 Pet 3.18), but recognizing our sins against God & seeking restoration & forgiveness which He freely offers (1 Jn 1.9). Similarly, if I sin against my wife, it does not mean our covenant relationship is over, but that I want to seek her forgiveness because we are in that relationship.
At any level, true repentance is marked by real brokenness, contrition & sadness over our sin (Mt 5.3-4, 11.21, Jas 4.7-10). It is also followed by action, bearing the fruit of obedience (Mt 3.8, 7.17-19, Acts 26.20). First, it’s obedience to the Gospel (Mk 1.15), then a commitment to obedience in every area of our lives where sin is exposed. This obedience of the Christian life is easier said than done. Christ knows it’s hard, that’s why He notes that we have to do our part to take drastic measures to avoid things that lead us into sin (Mk 9.43-49). While we can’t do this on our own power, we can do it as we trust in & rely on God’s power (Rom 6.16-18, 1 Cor 10.13, 2 Pet 1.3-4).
At any level, true repentance is marked by real brokenness, contrition & sadness over our sin (Mt 5.3-4, 11.21, Jas 4.7-10). It is also followed by action, bearing the fruit of obedience (Mt 3.8, 7.17-19, Acts 26.20). First, it’s obedience to the Gospel (Mk 1.15), then a commitment to obedience in every area of our lives where sin is exposed. This obedience of the Christian life is easier said than done. Christ knows it’s hard, that’s why He notes that we have to do our part to take drastic measures to avoid things that lead us into sin (Mk 9.43-49). While we can’t do this on our own power, we can do it as we trust in & rely on God’s power (Rom 6.16-18, 1 Cor 10.13, 2 Pet 1.3-4).
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,
that times of refreshing may come from the Lord
- Acts 3.19
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - 1 Jn 1.8-9
that times of refreshing may come from the Lord
- Acts 3.19
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - 1 Jn 1.8-9