Talking Won't Change It
DON’T WASTE YOUR BREATH
“And the Lord said unto me…speak no more unto me of this matter.” In essence, God is saying to Moses, “Don’t waste your breath or my time.” Some things in our lives are irreversible, and it is futile trying to get God to change them. It’s like the little girl who wrote on her exam paper that Cincinnati was the capital of Ohio. After being told by her mother differently, and knowing the teacher would grade the papers the following day, she prayed, “Lord, just for tomorrow, let Cincinnati be the capital.”
DIFFERENT AFFLICTIONS BUT THE SAME PAIN
Paul had a similar experience; he spent half his life asking God to remove a thorn in his flesh. But after the suffering saint’s third request, it was revealed to him that it was to be a permanent fixture in his life. It was for God’s glory and Paul’s good. And so, because we do not know what constituted his thorn, we can justifiably suppose our situation to be a kindred one. Therefore, when the messenger of Satan drives our thorn deeper, God tells us His grace accompanies it to the same depth that it is driven, enabling us to bear it.
SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT ALONE
My younger late daughter, Charity, and I had a bad habit of not leaving a sore alone; we are always picking at it, making it worse. I find I am tempted to do this in the spiritual realm also. It’s a wise thing not to personally try to remove our thorn; it only brings one unnecessary pain. And we get enough of that from Satan’s messenger. We need not add to it. As C.S.Lewis writes, “I suppose the only way with thorns in the flesh…is not to press on the place where they are embedded.”
by an Old Disciple