Rainbow Hide and Seek – thoughts on faith and works
Early yesterday evening, just after supper Kathy and I travelled south on a country road. She was driving, and I was just enjoying the view.
Off to the left, in my peripheral vision, I saw a rainbow, and then it was gone. A few seconds later, it was there and gone again. Thinking that to be strange, I turned my head for a better look.
There it was again, a low rainbow. As quickly as I processed the thought, the rainbow disappeared. I mentioned it to Kathy, and we both looked. It happened again…and again.
As we drew closer, we realized a farmer was irrigating his fields. As the sprinkler approached the proper angle for us to see, the low sun through the stream of water created a rainbow and then moved on.
For Christians, the tension between grace and works can be like that.
For a short while, we understand that God’s grace is sufficient.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
We rest in that grace and then understand that while saved by grace, godly works should come forth.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:14-17 ESV
If we aren’t careful, we start to do works under our own power, generating results that will never bear fruit and trying to impress God. We forget about the grace that got us there.
We can seesaw back and forth, one moment basking in the rainbow light of the Lord’s grace and mercy, the following setting it aside. Around and around, back and forth, we journey.
I confess to having been on that merry-go-round more often than I care to admit.
I have never doubted that my salvation is a gift of God. I have done nothing to merit it. Indeed I can never do enough to warrant it. Yet, God, in His infinite mercy, sent Jesus to die in my stead and the Holy Spirit to convict me and push me toward the cross. He has revealed Himself through His Word. Even the faith I need to come to Him is a gift.
I understand that truth with all my heart, mind and being. I stand on the promises of God for this life and the next.
Yet, I can find myself chasing the works rainbow that disappears and never fulfills. My desire to be pleasing to God can quickly become a matter of pride, drawing me away from the grace that I cherish.
Eventually, God puts the brakes on me; I realize I have drifted off course, repent and move on.
I wish I knew a sure-fire remedy to this tension, but while I have been forgiven and the Spirit dwells in me, I still am prone to sin.
The lyrics of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” comes to Mind,”
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love:
Take my heart, oh, take and seal it
With Thy Spirit from above.
For all my struggles and issues, Jesus is the cure. It sounds like a Sunday School answer where a child takes a stab at answering the question by blurting out “Jesus,” maybe even a little trite, but it is absolute truth.
Jesus, the God I love, is the cure for all my stumbling ways. In Him, I will trust no matter what comes.
My heart and soul want to be pleasing to Him, and He alone makes that possible.
Praise the Lord above and give glory to His name.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)