We had a long day to hike into this very secluded area of the mountains. On our way up & over a couple of passes, we saw amazing wildflowers, no animals, and no people. As we sat down to prepare dinner along the lake, our leader told us that this would be the worst place on the entire 6 week trip to get injured because it was the most isolated place on our whole trip, the furthest from any trailhead, and some of the more difficult off-trail terrain. We were planning to stay here for a couple of days, to rest & recover before we continued on our backpacking trip.
Wall Lake in the Wind River Range
The next day, our official "rest day", was a relaxing day full of food, doing laundry, catching up, and just enjoying being out of our hiking boots & backpacks for a day as we lounged around camp. Early in the afternoon, the clouds started to roll in, forcing each of us in to our tents. For this long trip, where I carried everything on my back, I had brought along only one small (and light!) book and my Bible. I had finished the other book early on in the trip and at this point, was reading my Bible for pleasure, not just devotion. But this afternoon, as we were forced into the tents to wait out the rainstorm, I didn't really want to read my Bible. I wanted to read ANYTHING else, and I'm sure I would have, if it would have been available.
But God led me to 2 Corinthians, and as I read through this familiar book, I became mesmerized & stuck on verse 18 in chapter 3. God was shouting loud and clear that day as I read in my tent that HE is at work in me, that HE is the one transforming me (lest I think I am actually doing it), that HE is transforming me to be like Him, and that HE is doing it by His Spirit.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."
~ 2 Corinthians 3:18
I continued to think about this verse & chew on it as the rain pounded the tent & I burrowed deeper into my sleeping bag in the middle of the afternoon. I was humbled & overcome by the fact that God was (and still is) at work in me to transform me into something that I can't even begin to fathom. But the thing that got me every time I read the verse was that He does this not when I am doing my best to serve Him, not when I am doing my best to avoid sin, but when I am beholding His glory. As I turn my face to Him, enjoy my relationship with Him, and press deeper into Him, HE is the one doing all of the work & transforming me from the inside out. My number one job isn't to try to be more like Jesus, but to behold Him and watch the work that God does in me, by His Spirit, to transform me. God took me out to the most remote place in the wilderness to teach me the most important thing about sanctification - that He is the one transforming me as I behold Him & His glory.
Wall Lake in the Wind River RangeThe next day, our official "rest day", was a relaxing day full of food, doing laundry, catching up, and just enjoying being out of our hiking boots & backpacks for a day as we lounged around camp. Early in the afternoon, the clouds started to roll in, forcing each of us in to our tents. For this long trip, where I carried everything on my back, I had brought along only one small (and light!) book and my Bible. I had finished the other book early on in the trip and at this point, was reading my Bible for pleasure, not just devotion. But this afternoon, as we were forced into the tents to wait out the rainstorm, I didn't really want to read my Bible. I wanted to read ANYTHING else, and I'm sure I would have, if it would have been available.
But God led me to 2 Corinthians, and as I read through this familiar book, I became mesmerized & stuck on verse 18 in chapter 3. God was shouting loud and clear that day as I read in my tent that HE is at work in me, that HE is the one transforming me (lest I think I am actually doing it), that HE is transforming me to be like Him, and that HE is doing it by His Spirit.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."
~ 2 Corinthians 3:18
I continued to think about this verse & chew on it as the rain pounded the tent & I burrowed deeper into my sleeping bag in the middle of the afternoon. I was humbled & overcome by the fact that God was (and still is) at work in me to transform me into something that I can't even begin to fathom. But the thing that got me every time I read the verse was that He does this not when I am doing my best to serve Him, not when I am doing my best to avoid sin, but when I am beholding His glory. As I turn my face to Him, enjoy my relationship with Him, and press deeper into Him, HE is the one doing all of the work & transforming me from the inside out. My number one job isn't to try to be more like Jesus, but to behold Him and watch the work that God does in me, by His Spirit, to transform me. God took me out to the most remote place in the wilderness to teach me the most important thing about sanctification - that He is the one transforming me as I behold Him & His glory.
Good stuff! So true. Thanks for letting God use you to speak to this old man. It's freeing to know that I don't have to do everything I can to change. He's changing me....
ReplyDeleteI know we'll see each other again. I pray it's in Swaziland.