“And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
I did it again. The oil pressure gauge was reading just right. Five minutes later the pressure dropped. Five miles later, it was barely reading at all, all the while I wasn’t responding to the disaster that was about to happen. But thank God, five quarts of oil was only one creeping mile away. Thing is, the time between the first five minutes and the next five miles was only a minute. The more I ignored the idiot light, the faster disaster approached. And how many times has the foolish man in me believed the gauge of gas didn’t also apply to me. Surely there’s one more ounce in the tank, but then dry I go again. And how many times have I relied on myself while telling the passengers in my life I was driving fine on faith? I’d like to give you the answer, but I can’t count that high, nor can I count the reasons why, and how about you? Therefore …
“He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10
Here’s the challenge we each daily face. If we don’t keep ourselves “filled to the full” with His riches from glory, although we have a far way to go, something far less will fill the void; a blinding, deceiving, disabling force and eventually, dangerously emptying.
From J. R. Miller’s “A Message For the Day” (1895) by James Russell Miller
“We are apt to underestimate little failures. It seems to us a small matter to lose our temper and say an impatient or angry word, that we show an unkind or disobliging spirit, that we allow ourselves to speak uncharitably of another, that we treat someone with discourtesy, or fail in some other way that appears trivial to us but is devastating to another. So long as we are honest, faithful, and loving in a larger way, we think our little slips are insignificant.
But we never can tell what the consequences or our failure may be, even in the slightest. But it hurts our own life. It leaves us a little weaker in character, a little less able to resist the next temptation that comes at the same point. It breaks our habit of faithfulness, and makes it easier to break it a second time. We sin against ourselves when we relax our faithfulness in even the least little matter. And something in us empties to make room for something unwelcome but welcomed. We do not know what the consequences to others will be when we fail in their presence instead of leaving them a testimony that was more (and still should be) in us. An outburst of temper in a Christian can indefinitely delay someone’s acceptance of Christ, but who saw just the opposite in us. Our message is the last one they know from us, and that shall be their report to others. The failure of our faith as it appears to others can destroy the very influence God entrusted us with, and drive back the innocent observer into the world that our Savior chose us to save him or her from.”
That must frighten us. And unless we pull closer to Christ, our faith in action will diminish MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE, AND MORE … while all along the way we travel, it will appear perfectly alright to us. On the other hand, if we do not allow the world to run our faith dry …
“May the God of your hope (and mine, too) so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (and bubbling over) with hope. Romans 15:13
Our Lord knows where we are, where we are going, where we should be going, how we are going to get there, and who is along for the ride – including Himself, like it or not. This does not mean we can pay no constant attention to warnings before us or ignore the lessons from our past travels. It simply means we cannot do anything or go anywhere and expect to arrive faithfully on our own, with a foolish faith in ourselves – for we are not large or in charge, nor will we ever be. Instead …
“I (We) know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.” Job 42:2
More from Miller’s “A Message For the Day“
“We cannot do what we would. Many of our purposes are restrained. We desire to do good and beautiful things, and we try, but our achievements fall far below our thought. Our clumsy hands cannot fashion the loveliness of our heart’s dream. Our faltering weakness cannot do the brave things our soul aspires to do. No artist ever paints on his canvas all the beauty of his ideal. No singer ever expresses all the music that burns within him as he sings. No eloquent orator ever utters all that he feels as he pleads for truth. None of us can live, serve, love, or go alone as far as we would wish without God’s filling.
So in all our life we do only a little of what we strive to do. We set out in the morning with purposes of usefulness, of true living, of gentle-heartedness, of patience, of victoriousness; but in the evening we find only little fragments of these good intentions wrought out.
It was in this thought that Job found peace in his long, sore trial. All things were in God’s hands, and nothing could hinder His designs of love. Our God is infinitely strong. In all earthly confusions, strifes, and troubles, His hand moves, bringing good out of evil for those who trust in him. He can execute all His purposes of good. He is never hindered in blessing his Children.”
“Now to Him Who, by the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, thoughts, hopes or dreams].”.. Ephesians 3:20
When Great Goes Too Fast By