"And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction...thine eyes shall see...and thine ears shall hear...Ye shall defile also the covering of the graven images...thou shalt cast them away as a menstrous cloth; thous shalt say unto it, Get thee hence." Isaiah 30:20-22
Nothing removes smokescreens quite like desolation. All illusions cease, all false and naive hopes are gone, all foolish self-confidence falls away; all that remains is the shattered, quivering self in the midst of the fire quite conscious that it is in fire, for it can feel the heat on all sides.
This is one of many claims Christianity asserts that people resent: clarity never comes until the breakdown, understanding never arrives until after the collapse of our self-will and self-assertion, we do not truly see and hear and walk the right way until after we have tasted the bread and water of desolation. Of course, we would much rather do without desolation, but it is that which drives us towards wholly and solely trusting in God. Without desolation, no matter what we tell ourselves, we will always try to do things ourselves. Before we can truly stand in His strength, we have to have our legs knocked out from underneath us.
"You might as well come quietly," said Lewis once, and it is sound advice. The desolation hurts horribly only when we fight against it. If we surrender without a struggle (such a hard thing!), we find that we have fallen right into the arms of God, and His glory is ready to shine through us.
"I was but dust
Until You Breathed in me.
I am still dust
Unless You Breath in me.
Raise this dust to Heaven..."
-Jon Vowell
Nothing removes smokescreens quite like desolation. All illusions cease, all false and naive hopes are gone, all foolish self-confidence falls away; all that remains is the shattered, quivering self in the midst of the fire quite conscious that it is in fire, for it can feel the heat on all sides.
This is one of many claims Christianity asserts that people resent: clarity never comes until the breakdown, understanding never arrives until after the collapse of our self-will and self-assertion, we do not truly see and hear and walk the right way until after we have tasted the bread and water of desolation. Of course, we would much rather do without desolation, but it is that which drives us towards wholly and solely trusting in God. Without desolation, no matter what we tell ourselves, we will always try to do things ourselves. Before we can truly stand in His strength, we have to have our legs knocked out from underneath us.
"You might as well come quietly," said Lewis once, and it is sound advice. The desolation hurts horribly only when we fight against it. If we surrender without a struggle (such a hard thing!), we find that we have fallen right into the arms of God, and His glory is ready to shine through us.
"I was but dust
Until You Breathed in me.
I am still dust
Unless You Breath in me.
Raise this dust to Heaven..."
-Jon Vowell
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