June 23
  
ACQUAINTANCE WITH GRIEF 

"A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Isaiah 53:3

We are not acquainted with grief in the way in which Our Lord was acquainted with it; we endure it, we get through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of life we do not reconcile ourselves to the fact of sin. We take a rational view of life and say that a man by controlling his instincts, and by educating himself, can produce a life which will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we go on, we find the presence of something which we have not taken into consideration, viz., sin, and it upsets all our calculations. Sin has made the basis of things wild and not rational. We have to recognize that sin is a fact, not a defect; sin is red-handed mutiny against God. Either God or sin must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue. If sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is no possible ultimate but that. The climax of sin is that it crucified Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will be true in your history and in mine. In our mental outlook we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact of sin as the only explanation as to why Jesus Christ came, and as the explanation of the grief and sorrow in life.

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As Oswald states, when difficulties come, we "endure." "Enduring" carries with it feelings of anxiety, worry, discomfort, or downright anger.  Becoming "intimate with" implies that we are so familiar and "in-tune" with it that we understand it and appreciate it.  As with all relationships, the object is to become so familiar with another that we understand how they think and why they do.  
In order to understand and embrace trials in our lives, we must allow ourselves to become intimate with them.  While we are angry or miserable, we simply "will not" quietly ponder the problem in the larger context of life.  And just as with relationships, if we hope for intimacy, we must  consider all of the circumstances surrounding those relationships.  

So, when trouble comes your way, first realize that your God loves you and is "working all things to your good."  Then consider as many possibilities as you can about how God might use this trouble to your good or the good of others nearby.  Go through the process of relationship building with each trial.  It is only through this process that you can, as James writes, "... consider it all joy when you encounter trials..."

Secondly, Oswald states that the nature of human nature is to expect that by living a good life, one can eventually "earn" his way to heaven.  There is this subconscious sense that in the end, God will take into His presence the "good ones" and send away the "bad ones."  And in the human way of thinking, we actually live that way, rewarding the "good" and punishing the "bad."

However, as Oswald points out, we fail to take into account the reality of sin.  It is "sin" which separates us from God both in time and in eternity.  And "sin" is not an "act" it is an "attitude."  All acts stem from attitudes.  Oswald says the attitude of sin is mutiny against God.  Mutiny is taking away or usurping the authority of the one who is in charge.  In short, as the first couple in the Garden of Eden acted in defiance from an attitude of mutiny, they broke the relationship with God.  

Sin is a fact of the life of every person who has ever lived or ever will live.  It is my attitude which determines who will be in charge in life.  It is my God-given freedom of choice which enables sin to exist.  And the conflict for every person for all time is exactly the same.  "Will I allow God to be the commander-in-chief of my faculties or will I be large and in charge myself?"  This is a struggle, because having been made in the "image of God," my natural tendency to is be "in charge of myself" just as God is in charge of Himself.  However, it is this "choice" which separates mankind from all other creation.

The most satisfying, fulfilling aspect of life is good, healthy relationships.  God is love (relational) and made mankind to have relationships with us.  He risked the heartache of many who would in attitudes of defiance, commit mutiny against Him.  However, without such a possibility, He could not experience the extreme pleasure of having "living beings" who submitted themselves to Him of their own volition.

The purpose of God is to reveal His desire to befriend us and to become intimate with us.  The plan of God is to reveal Himself to every one in such a way as to drawn them into intimate relationship.  The power of God is used to guard the choice (free will) of humanity.  The persona of God caused Him to humble Himself to the point of entering into humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, in order to identity with us.  The magnificence of God is that His plan is accessible to every man, woman, and child on earth.  And the glory of God is when even one soul makes a childlike choice to submit to the love and purposes of God.

Only one can be large and in charge in your life.  It will be you or God.  The choice is yours.  Either kill the attitude of mutiny or be a mutineer.  Intimate relationships require "centeredness."  Many are "centered" only on themselves.  This leaves them with no relationships.  Those who have intimate relationships with others, do "by choice" have a centeredness on those others.  The ultimate "other centeredness" is that one would give up his life for his friend.  And Jesus did that for you.

Love is a choice.  Not to choose love (relationships), acting selfishly, is the explanation of grief and sorrow in life.