Life of Brother Lawrence, Part 4

Faith, for many is difficult, because they can't see where they are going. We want to be in control, and faith causes us to have to trust. And yet, for Brother Lawrence, he saw "faith" as his greatest instructor. "It was faith that gave him an unspeakably high esteem for Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who resides as King....This same faith gave him a profound respect and love for the Word of God."
Faith is what leads us into the unknown world of God, and yet this same faith is the only way that we can know the mysteries of God (see Colossians 1:25-26). As Brother Lawrence just said, faith gives us high esteem for Jesus, because in Jesus we see both who God is and who God wants us to become.
"Faith gave Brother Lawrence a firm hope in God's goodness, confidence in His providence, and the ability to completely abandon himself into God's hands." I read these words, and I think that these can be scary words. The thought of abandoning ourselves to anyone can cause us concern. And yet, if anyone can be trusted with our lives, it is our creator. If we can indeed abandon ourselves, then we can be more like what Brother Lawrence says: "He never worried about what would become of him; rather, he threw himself into the arms of infinite mercy...This is why he said that the greatest glory one can give to God is to entirely mistrust one's own strength, relying completely on God's protection."
How often do we mistrust our own strength, only to find out we aren't able to make it on our own? It is interesting to see how we think we can be stronger and more capable than God, the creator and redeemer of our soul. We think we can come up with our own plan. But how can we plan for that which we do not know? "Brother Lawrence saw nothing but the plan of God in everything that happened to him." To be this way brings great freedom!
There is no peace found in the world apart from God. But with God, there can be great peace. Brother Lawrence lived this truth. "Even when told of some great evil in the world, He would simply raise his heart to God, trusting that He would work it to the good of the general order."
The challenge for us then become be able to let God work out the good for our lives. Tell me what you think. (pastorchrislogan@yahoo.com)