Christ I Know; Who are You?

The Discipline of Dismay

As they followed they were afraid —Mark 10:32

At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— "Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed" (Mark 10:32 ).

There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set "like a flint" (Isaiah 50:7 ) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.

Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.
The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 1:10-11 ). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy. By Oswald Chambers

Today I thought I would share another poem with you all. This one is so fitting for Oswalds devotion.

Proper Prospective by the Water’s Edge
– Reflections of a still heart

Be still my child; know that I am God
Come here, walk with me, reach for my hand
I have been calling you to be by my side
Still waters to calm you run through your path
All tensions drift, as you hold firm my hand

Rest deep as the waters, which have no beginning or end
Twisting and turning, rolling inward and flowing out
Time is a continuum, plunging deep while running out
Years into seconds, to turn back the hand of time
A wish from the sorrowful, there is a lesson to learn
To return a wave, requires an earth movement; which is no simple task
For man it is impossible through his lifeless hand
My hand, however, has strength yours cannot comprehend

To stop the world from turning, just watch and understand
I think and it happens, because love knows no bounds
When flowing like water, it quenches the driest of sand
Time is the shoreline, the boundary for us all
Its water the lifeblood running throughout each soul
Knowledge is power, the heartbeat understands
Energy is the motion to pump over and beyond
The spirit propels each vision, empowering good and halting the bad

Sit by my still waters; come near to contemplate life
Listen to the babbling of the years that you’ve passed by
Listen to all the laughter, forget all of the pain
Joy is through my spirit and peace is in my right hand

Lengthen your own shoreline to take more water in
Deepen your own tide pool, so that you may understand
Dive in with a deep breath, then kick hard to reach the top
Breath in all that freshness, as your face burst through the wet
Emerge a new life form, cleansed from your past

Walk as the righteous, upright and straight ahead
Now you can see forward, when looking behind
So wait for proper prospective, before standing to leave
Always focus your pathway, designed from my lead
By Candace Huffmaster