Skip to main content

A Dim Confidence


This morning CS Lewis conveyed to me in Mere Christianity many ideas I think I will have to go back and examine, but one key idea was the idea of why some people seem to get more of God than others. Lewis likened God's reality, His revealed self, to sunshine in a mirror (or something like that). If the mirror is mucky then it will not be very good at reflecting the radiance of the sun. In a similar way, if a man is mucky, if his heart is impure, his mind unclean, then he will not be able to absorb the light. The light will be distorted and hazy, obscured.

I envy men who are able to jump out and take hold of God offers them. I envy men, if I'm being honest, who are able to jump out and take hold of much less than God. They have confidence, they know they will acquire what they are after. Where does it come from, this confidence? Is it real or imagined?

In any case, I know that God would have us be confident, especially if our life is in Him. So, these are my prayers today:

Lord Jesus, my confidence has been shattered by life. I feel I am mistreated and despised, but am I also mistreating others and overly sensitive? Help me to see clearly. Help me in my anxieties. Help me to know how to make a confident step, inspired by You. And I pray that I would grow in my transparency, my pursuit of what is right. I pray that those around me benefit from my growing in You, in the way that You intend them to.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Goals to Roles

It's been quite a while since I've sat down to write down goals and map out plans to get there. I used to do this thing all the time when I was out of work living in Brooklyn. I would write down all of these details about the things I wanted to do (Bookbinding, Screen Printing, Music, etc). This was the era of David Allen and get things done. Much of that has stayed with me. As I look back, I became something of a productivity automaton. Not very crazy, as I have read about others being, but in my own haphazard way, I was one, too. Over the past several years there has not been quite the same reflective time, or maybe I have not thought that I needed it. But with my wife consistently telling me that I put too high a premium on work, that I'm not there to meet hers and the families needs, and with me thinking about friendships (or the lack of them) here in Memphis, my continued overweightness, and a few other messy features about myself, I consider that it is time to do...
Post a Comment
Read more

One Person at a Time, Please

This morning in the wee hours I was thinking about work and work people. I was thinking about why Dr. Rob got to be principal and I didn't. What were my failings, what were my trappings? Oh, my thoughts weren't specifically about "what makes him better than me", but the self-reflection was about us in contrast, most likely. As I was considering, I had a thought whiz in that I thought indicated growth on my part. I thought, if it came down to it being necessary, and Dr. Rob were getting into a battle of wills, that I might say something like, "how many times have you been a jerk with me? You really have to start to answer that question and figure out why or it could end up being a hindrance to you." As usual, it sounded right in my head, but the context of the situation made it seem plausible to say it, and have it be received. But the critical factor in it being received well, if at all, would have been in its power to convince Dr. Rob that it was really in ...
Post a Comment
Read more