How quickly we slip, how quickly we slumber.
How quickly the light grows dim. How quickly we lose the sense of awe, everything becomes quite ordinary.
How quickly our affection turns cold. We divert our eyes - once singular - with a little glance here, a look there.
And just as dangerous as a glance away is the eyelids closed, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:33-34)
Your love, once held dear, robbed, taken from you, because of your neglect. And suddenly you are overrun, bound, and worse off than before you began.
Let us be pure again. Purely devoted to Him in all things, “a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
Simplify our faith, purify our gaze, for when our eyes are singular, our whole body is full of light.
If there is one cry echoing through the chambers of my heart for this generation in which we live, it is this -
PURIFY, PURIFY, MAKE US CLEAN!
A cry not unlike the lamenting prayer heard coming from the mouth of General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, as he paced a room full of dignitaries, elites and the wealthy religious of his day.
“I WANT MEN! I WANT MEN!”
“I can distinctly remember the joy and the hope with which the General set out on one of his journeys to Dunorlan, believing that he would come back with hundreds of pounds towards the three thousand he was striving to raise for a Mission Hall. But he came back, instead, utterly depressed; indeed, I think that was the only occasion on which I ever saw him really dejected. And why was this?
It was just because the religious people surrounding Mr. Reed, and who crowded the park to hear the Whitechapel missionary preach, were such ‘poor stuff.’ I remember how the General walked up and down the room muttering, ‘I want men! I want men!’
Mr. Reed offered the General a lot of money, [but] he rejected the offer. He refused to put himself under the dominion of a sect. But I really think he was more dejected by the spirit of Christianity he encountered than by the loss of this tremendously large sum of money.
He kept on saying, ‘I want men! I want men!’” (The Life of General William Booth, Volume 1, 1920)
So often throughout history, it is not the complex cry that moves the heart of God, but it is the simple groan, repeated, uttered in anguish.
It’s as if God looks down from heaven with a question, “Can you live without it?”
Do our prayers and the manner of our praying bear witness to the fact that we cannot live without them being answered?
Or have we forgotten the request as soon as it leaves our lips? Perhaps we would like an answer, but by our lack of persistence, we demonstrate that we are happy either way? With or without it - it makes very little difference to us.
Moses to Pharoah, “Let my people go!” Or don’t, either way is fine.
Rachel to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” Or don’t, either way is fine.
Hannah before God, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.” But then she got up and went on her way, no longer troubled by the matter.
Jacob wrestling with God, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.” But then he let go anyway knowing that the hour was getting late and he had to get up early the next day.
Nehemiah in response to the news about the Jews who had escaped captivity and the state of Jerusalem, “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days.” But then I was fine and I went about my business as normal, almost forgetting that I had even been praying about the matter.
Anything less than absolute determination, gut-wrenching agony of the soul, and singular focus would not do in these situations. Looking back upon their stories, to suggest anything else is absurd.
Yet which example do we practice? Their absolute determination or the absurd alternatives?
“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 6:10-11
How quickly we slip, how quickly we slumber, and yet how much quicker He is to forgive. Do not delay in your return. Come quickly, home. Confess your sins and let His faithfulness surround you as a compassionate father’s embrace, a loving father’s kisses, and a good father’s best robe.
In love,
Derek