Both Small and Safe

I was re-reading some of my notes from Paul Tripp’s, Broken Down House —Living Productively in a World Gone Bad, and thought they might bless you too:

(Example of a little boy walking through loud, boisterous crowd of drunk men …)

The little boy is at peace; at rest; hand tightly in father’s. “He knew his limits and he knew where security could be found. Surrounded by half-drunk guys several times his size, he was at rest.”

Have you placed your hand in the huge and capable hands of your Heavenly Father? Have you realized that your life is played out in the middle of a rowdy and overstimulated crowd? Have you accepted how small you really are? Has that made you panic? Or has it given you rest? You will only ever know the rest God can give you in this broken world when you begin to accept your limits.

You have real and obvious limits to your wisdom, power, and righteousness. But your heavenly father is infinite in wisdom, and infinite in power, and is the only source of true righteousness. Your God has no boundaries, edges, or limitations. In his power and authority, he bows to no one. You are riddled with imperfections, but God is perfect in every way. Therefore, the key to rest is not in continually lying to yourself in a futile effort to convince yourself you are strong. No, it is when you humbly embrace your foolishness, weakness, and sin that you are in the best position to know peace of heart and to live productively in this broken-down house.

So let your smallness drive you to the One who alone is great. There you will experience that he is not only great in wisdom, power, and holiness. He is also great in grace, and he will give you what you need. It is not your job to be mighty, nor is it within your capacity. That role is reserved for God alone. But like that little boy clinging to his father’s hand, you can know what it means to be both small and safe …

(Example of “Joan” and (in Cap’n Dave’s words) an “eternal perspective” …)

We tend to file it off in the ‘theologically interesting but basically irrelevant’ to real life area of our brains … yet it is the only thing that will EVER actually enable us to CHANGE … turn away from our fears … ‘it can literally change the way you feel about everything. Far from being esoteric or impractical, it is one of the biblical realities that make life in this sin-shattered world livable. Joan began to listen to eternity. And when she did, she got her hope back.’ …

(After teaching on God’s bitter providence …)

Sometimes, we just have to WAIT. We do not understand what God is doing and do not have the power to change our circumstances for the better. We just have to wait.