The calm before the crash....
That wretched word....it is so smooth and yet it cannot take you over without a fight. Many times it comes after what seems like to much fighting. Too much struggle. It comes with giving up.
A trial crashed down upon your life...you struggle, you yearn, you fight...and then...you struggle a little more, and fight just one more day....
Only to wake up and find yourself exactly where you were before. You cry out for deliverance, and then, suddenly, there is a break in the storm. You don't have to fight so hard. Life is just a little easier..you can breathe. You send up a quick prayer of thanks, and lay your head down to rest for the night. You wake up. The struggle begins again. But this time...something is missing. The will, the passion? You are not quite sure. You just know you are tired. Exhausted, actually. Much too tired to fight. After all, life is fine the way it is. Why not accept the gravity; give in to the flow. Really though, what do you have to lose? Just pain, tears, and a whole lot a struggle. Yea..I think I'll pass on this one. I'm good. Jesus loves me, right? His love never fails. I'll just...rest...in ... Him! Yes, that sounds like a plan.
It's strange though...you don't really hear His voice as much anymore. Stranger still, you don't really care. Why skip the crude commercial? It isn't that bad...and really, you're tired of hangin' with the "good" group. Why not go out with the fun crowd? You can be a witness! And I mean, it's not like you've stopped going to church.
You worship on Sunday, raise your hands in the air...it's kinda sub conscience though. The love isn't there. The passion is gone. Life has become empty. And you have become complacent.
Jeremiah 48:11
"Moab has been at ease from his youth;
He has settled on his dregs,
And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him,
And his scent has not changed."
Being at ease is certainly appealing. Skipping the trial and the pain...but with it; with it goes your separateness. Your holiness. Your light. You become just like the rest of the world. There is no salt in you! you taste as bland as the sick world you live in. The Holy Spirit cannot commune with you. Your "scent" has not changed. Complacency is worse than hatred, because it is far more dangerous. It is indifference, and once it has got a hold of you, it is almost impossible to be delivered from its grasp.
Revelation 3:15-16
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Chills down my spine. This is serious. He says He will vomit the complacent out of his mouth. Oh, how easy it is to become complacent! To drift into the lukewarm waters. But that is not to what we are called.
Romans 12:2
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Complacency is poison. It deadens your heart to the voice of the Holy Spirit, so that you are unable to discern the will of God! It is a never-ending spiral straight towards the pit of hell. If you are struggling with living on the fence--one foot in the world and one in Christ--wake up!! You are falling, and losing your effectiveness. In fact, it is impossible to serve the world and Jesus.
Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."
There is no middle ground. The very idea of a fence is facade. An illusion, straight from the pit of hell.
Matthew 12:29-30
"Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit."
There is no middle ground. Every tree is known by its fruit. You are either bearing fruit for the kingdom, or rotting only to be cut off and thrown into the fire. The enemy cannot conquer you when you are strong and in hot pursuit of the Word. he must first tie him up, bind him, and then take away all he has. Do not allow the enemy that foothold in your life.
1 Peter 5:8-9
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same suffering are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
Jesus goes on in Revelation 3 to explain why He despises lukewarm attitudes so strongly, saying:
"Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
The road He calls us to is not an easy one, but it is the only one worth walking. Complacency blinds you to the sinful state of your heart, and you cannot see that you are "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." To be able to see, to be clothed, to remove the shame of our sin, we must walk through the fire. We must be refined through the trials God ordains; we must walk a holy life, have a separate spirit from the world, and be clothed in white garments of the Holy Spirit. Finally we must have the light from the Word penetrating our hearts, so that the truth of His teachings open our eyes to see.
It is never too late to return to the holy, passionate, fiery heart after God.
Revelation 3:19-22
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
