Mea e 'ai e tatau ma le aso
“We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look of ourselves and talk only of our trials and difficulties. We only worry about our own physical circumstances and forget our faith in Him to do unto us His own good will.
And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight, rather quietly in the background.
None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time, even admiring our spirituality.
A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for His work, and completely self-centered unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, chosen to do His will for the seeding of this world. And we are to do it with infinite greater power to withstand the struggle or even the storms of life, because we have been re-born spiritually from above.
If we continually try to bring back those moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want, but self assurance that He is still there. We become obsessed with the moments when God did speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again and again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.”
How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears or speaks to me”? He will never do it for those reasons. Sometimes, we try to bring God down to our level instead of bringing our standards up to God's level.
We have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Only a willing heart, then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Yes, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!”
Never live for those moments—they are surprises. God will give us His touch of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life—our task and work to sow the field of this world and the fruit that you reap thereof, is our standard.
Ia manuia,
failauga p. anoa'i
“We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look of ourselves and talk only of our trials and difficulties. We only worry about our own physical circumstances and forget our faith in Him to do unto us His own good will.
And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight, rather quietly in the background.
None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time, even admiring our spirituality.
A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for His work, and completely self-centered unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, chosen to do His will for the seeding of this world. And we are to do it with infinite greater power to withstand the struggle or even the storms of life, because we have been re-born spiritually from above.
If we continually try to bring back those moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want, but self assurance that He is still there. We become obsessed with the moments when God did speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again and again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.”
How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears or speaks to me”? He will never do it for those reasons. Sometimes, we try to bring God down to our level instead of bringing our standards up to God's level.
We have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Only a willing heart, then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Yes, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!”
Never live for those moments—they are surprises. God will give us His touch of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life—our task and work to sow the field of this world and the fruit that you reap thereof, is our standard.
Ia manuia,
failauga p. anoa'i
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