Grasping The Roots by Jason G. Lutz

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)

Our only satisfaction can be found in the Glory and Grace of God. Wondrously He reveals Himself unquestionably through His creation and His word, and even more He freely gives Himself to us. We need to start here, our confidence hinges upon it. I would like to draw out the understanding that at any given time we are going to think ourselves pretty bad at the whole follower/discipleship/Christian thing and that this is quite Awesome!

Let’s say we have decided to more fully develop our prayer lives. It takes 21 days to make a good habit. So before we can even begin to discuss matters such as who to pray for and what requests we should make, we have three weeks of developing the habit itself. We will miss days, we will struggle to think about what to say; all in all, we will think ourselves pretty bad at a good habit. Yet, in Romans, St. Paul is clear: the Spirit intercedes on our behalf!

Ah! So then what do we know of His Glory? A turn to Him, even if feeble, causes the entire Host of Heaven to rejoice! It is the desire for Him and the patience with ourselves that matters here. And this is our rest and our confidence, for He works powerfully where and when we doubt and we are celebrated by His angels even when we think we are poor at good things. Were else will we find such a relationship?

So we look at our churches and we see all that needs fixed, we tally every mistake and we never see the Body as we think it should be. Yet, He promises His church will stand. We see in His word and the history of the Church that no invasion or inquisition has stamped out those whom He sets apart for Himself. Perhaps the church that struggles on in desire for Him and patience with itself has a bit of Wisdom which other churches do not? Perhaps the follower who struggles on in desire for Him and patience with themselves is grasping the root of much greater things?