As I look back
over the years, I can see this strangely distinctive thread of pain woven
through my life. I have had very few memories to explain the intensity of the
pain; it has simply been there. It has helped me understand why North American
men hate to cry, and will do anything to justify the idea that avoiding tears
is a very normal thing to do. It is because, underneath some present experience
that may threaten to bring us to tears, is a whole world of pain that feels
like the floodwaters behind a dam. We do not want to open the floodgates of our
tears for fear that the power of the pain will wipe out the whole dam and leave
us a devastated, quivering mass of nothingness on the floor, fully exposed,
naked, and very much ashamed.
When I
consider the way that God has ministered to me according to his word,
constantly working to “heal the
brokenhearted and bind up their wounds”,[1]
I can see how he has used the heartaches of life to lead me to know him. His
promise is true that declares, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”[2] It is a simple law that our mourning before God leads us into the experience
of comforts we would never have known if we had tried to handle our heartaches
in the flesh (sark), instead of in the presence of God. Be assured that, if
reading an article like this feels as though it is pressing too close to
something painful in your heart, God will not address any wound within your
soul without blessing you with the comforts that he has promised.[3]
The
real point of what I want to share today is that I found a strange and
delightful blessing in my exploration of the visions of Revelation, Daniel, and
Ezekiel, and it brought me to a feeling that was the polar opposite to
attachment pain. The only way I could describe it was “attachment joy”, or
“attachment pleasure”. It was as though God had personally led me over a very
long path, one that had wended its way through many narrow and lonely canyons,
in order to bring me to a lookout where I could capture a glimpse of the trail
I had been traveling for some time. It was as though every isolated event
suddenly fell into place in a grand testimony of how God works all things
together for the good of his children.[4]
What
stirred this feeling of attachment joy was the realization that Ezekiel,
Daniel, and Revelation, were written to God’s people in exile. God gave us
visions of heaven to help us through the troubling things his people go through
on earth. He gave us pictures we could remember, revelations to fill our hearts
and minds, while we live as strangers in a foreign land.[5]
The
feeling that came into my heart with the simplicity of an insight into the gift
of grace in God’s revelations was the opposite of attachment pain. Attachment
pain happens over things we do not understand. We suddenly think of someone, or
are in a situation, or are going through an experience, and something about it
pierces us as deeply as we can be pierced. It is so deep, and so painful, that
we know we are dealing with something that is real, even though we may not be
able to identify what it is.
When
I considered the revelations to Joseph while he was in prison, to Moses while
he was a fugitive, to the exiles coming out of Egypt, to Ezekiel and Daniel
while they were in exile, and to John while he was on Patmos, I was overwhelmed
by the wonder of attachment joy. We may be going through a situation that has
no joy in it whatsoever, but the revelations of God are filled with suggestions
of the pleasures that are at his right hand, and will soon be ours forevermore.[6]
One
of the most beautiful pictures of attachment joy is in John 15 where Jesus
describes himself as the true vine, and his disciples as his branches. He
describes his followers as “every branch
in me”,[7] identifying the “in Christ”
quality of the Christian life that is profoundly, strongly, and undeniably
displayed throughout the rest of the New Testament.[8]
Jesus
states his description of our life in him like this: “Abide
in me, and I in you.”[9] This strikes me in a very special way because it presents a reality
that is far superior to the illustration itself. A branch attaches “to” a vine,
but Jesus speaks of us abiding “in” him. We are not some mere appendage
attached to Jesus, but are a living part of him. He created us to be in his
image and likeness,[10] and so he speaks of us as branches of the one true vine, abiding in
him, remaining in him, living in him, and loving in him.
Jesus
encouraged our faith in our attachment to him with some significant promises. He
said, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is
that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”[11] In the same way that a grape plant can only bear fruit on the
branches that are attached to the vine, Jesus makes clear that we can only be
fruitful disciples and churches as we are in that abiding attachment to him. While
one side of the picture makes clear that we can only bear fruit through our
attachment to him, the other side of the picture is that we will bear fruit
through our attachment to him.
Another
thing Jesus said would be characteristic of our abiding attachment to him is: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”[12] There is something about attachment to Jesus that must be described
as “abide”, or “remain”, or “live” in
him. If our words in prayer are an expression of us abiding in him, and his
words abiding in us, he will gladly do what we are asking for because we are
asking for the things that have already been revealed to us from his own heart.
Paul
explained this when he wrote: “Therefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in
you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”[13] The more churches work out our salvation with the “fear and trembling” of branches that
know we only have life in the vine, the more we will have the joy of seeing our
prayers answered because they are expressions of the work God is doing in us to
bring us to “will and to work for his
good pleasure”.
However,
let us be assured that, while Jesus wants us to consider our attachment to him
with such seriousness that we feel some measure of “fear and trembling” as we “work
out our salvation”, that his aim is for us to feel attachment joy and pleasure
in our relationship with him. Along with the promise of bearing fruit, and
experiencing answered prayer, Jesus added this: “These things I have spoken to you, that my
joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”[14]
Jesus
did not simply promise that, because he spoke words to his disciples, those
words would fill them with joy to the full. Rather, he promised that, because
of the words he had spoken to his disciples then, and still speaks to his disciples
now, both individual believers and church-groups can enter into that abiding
attachment with him that gives us joy. He gave us these words, these
instructions, these love-commands, so that, when we walk in them, we will find
the joy that he has for us, and that he has in himself.
The
reason I have so often had episodes of unexplainable, intense pain that has
shaken me to the core of my being, is because God has been working to heal my
brokenheartedness with his love and joy. He has been quite unwilling to let me
handle things in my flesh. His love would not allow him to let me settle for
pseudo-joy in the mirage that I am handling my life just fine, when I could
have the real joy of feeling what it is like to be his beloved child.
All
my attachment pain told me that I was an unlovable orphan, and that I just had
to try hard to be good so that I could get by in life. God has been speaking
for a long time above the cries of my pain, and listening to him is certainly
paying off. My joy grows as he teaches me that I am a beloved, adopted,
treasured child of God; a chosen, sought out, and redeemed sheep of his pasture;
a kingly priest in a royal priesthood, a citizen of a holy nation, a chosen
member of the very body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and, a joy-maturing branch of
the joy-filled vine.
From
my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Psalm 147:3
[2]
Matthew 5:4
[3]
“3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort, 4 who
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who
are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God. 5 For
as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share
abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and
salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you
experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
7 Our hope for you is
unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share
in our comfort.” (II Corinthians 1)
[4]
“28 And
we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For
those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and
those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also
glorified.” (Romans 8)
[5]
“These all died in faith, not having
received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar,
and having acknowledged that they were strangers
and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13); “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is,
a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:16)
[6]
“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm
16:11)
[7]
John 15:2
[8]
The whole book of Ephesians expresses our attachment “in Christ” very strongly.
The first chapter alone establishes our place “in him” with stunning beauty
that is designed to fill our hearts with joy.
[9]
John 15:4
[10]
Genesis 1:26-27
[11]
John 15:5
[12]
John 15:7
[13]
Philippians 2:12-13
[14]
John 15:11
No comments:
Post a Comment