“It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:26
Dear Ones:
It has been said that in true preaching, one begins with Christ, and leaves his listeners WITH Christ. And so, we begin this morning with the example of Christ, and this, with regard to His demeanor. He IS our constant example, or point of reference for living, so let us look at Him. Throughout the New Testament in particular, we find the Lord Jesus never to be in a hurry, anxious, or fearful. We find him never late, always on time. We find him perfectly confident in every circumstance, never overcome by his enemies nor the circumstances at hand. Why? What was His secret, that which will apply to us?
Isaiah wrote: “…in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” (Is. 29:15) The Lord Jesus lived in the quiet, “secret” presence of His Father. He lived in the refuge, sanctuary, and atmosphere of the sovereign presence of His Father, ever deriving from Him all that He needed by faith. This He has called us to do. With regard to prayer (…and we are to pray always, i.e. being in an attitude of prayer…), we are to “…pray to our Father which is in secret: and our Father who SEES in secret, will reward us openly.” (Matt. 6:6) Christ derived every resource from His Father, and again, this is what He has called us to do. “Abide in Me, and I will abide in you.” (Jn. 15:4) The Lord Jesus has already spoken of His union with the Father, and how the Father and the Son come to reside in the heart of the believer. (Jn. 14:23) Now, He calls us to believe it, to count upon it, to live in the reality of the quiet truth of His presence and sufficiency.
Two things must be grasped here as the basis for Christ’s quiet, and yet, self-controlled life. First, as we have mentioned, He lived in the certainty of the constant presence of His all-knowing, and loving Father, to whom He had committed Himself fully. He believed in the sovereignty of God, that NOTHING was by accident, and thus NOTHING would take the Father by surprise. The second thing is that He believed in the sufficiency of the Father to meet every need that He had, or would have. He lived a life of constantly receiving from the Father every resource for every challenge, great or small. The Apostle Paul learned something of this perspective when he wrote: “And He (Christ) said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'” (2 Cor. 12:9) Here is the key to living a quiet, confident, and successful existence…look unto Jesus as our example. Christ chose to live in the reality of the very present, secret, presence of His Father, and He lived always dependent, receiving from the Father all that He needed to face everything, and everyone, that would come His way. He lived the perfect overcoming life because He lived by faith in the all-sufficient life of Another, His Father. We are called to do the same, TODAY.
Dear Father, give us grace and strengthen our hearts, to choose to live in the reality of Thy presence. Grant us that ability to abide in Thy Son for everything great and small, learning daily that Thou art our sovereign God, and faithful Provider. Thou wilt NEVER fail us or forsake us. Great is Thy faithfulness. With thanksgiving, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad