Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Gratitude and grace

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Luke 11:20
Jesus says, "If it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."

In the Sistine Chapel God the Father points his finger and Adam is created. Where God points there appears truth, beauty, goodness, and in the case of Adam, free will. The finger of God brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

And free will. We might turn away from truth, beauty and goodness because we think we've found something better. God will not stop us. And in very short order we can't stop ourselves. Even when we are sure we're on the wrong track, we stay on it. This is called addiction.

There is only one way through this hell on earth. Can you remember whatever glimpses you've had of heaven? We all have glimpses, however fleeting. Gerald May's poetic prose in Addiction and Grace (p. 149-150) reminds me to remember:

Every struggle with addiction, no matter how small, and no matter what our spiritual interest may be, will include at least brief encounters with spaciousness. Through the spaciousness will come some homeward call, some invitation to transformation. If we answer yes, even with the tiniest and most timid voice, our struggle becomes consecrated. Consecration means dedication to God. It occurs when we claim our deepest desire for God, beneath, above, and beyond all other things.

Everything we do involves some kind of dedication. When we simply try to reform a troublesome addiction, our struggle is dedicated to minimizing the pain that addiction causes us and others. But in consecration we dedicate our struggle to something more; consecration is our assent to God\\\'s transform¬ing grace, our commitment homeward.

In the beginning, we will not understand the full meaning of consecration. Perhaps, in this life, we never will. Nor will we comprehend the ups and downs, the joys and agonies of the journey that must follow. And certainly we will be unable to grasp the overarching cosmic meaning of our small assent, the joy it gives to God, the deepening love it will bring to humanity, the universal covenant it has enriched. We may not have any idea that consecration means encounter with spaciousness, that an unconditioned reality awaits our conditioned mind.

But our yes comes from some taste, some bare recollection of all these things. We know it has something to do with home. There is love in it and hope. We feel a small breeze of freedom. And in that tiny space our hearts can say yes.

The way through addiction is not to "just say no." Instead it is to reclaim the freedom to say YES. In that home there is no room for demons, and I feel the finger of God making me new.

You anoint my head with oil, Lord, and my cup runs over. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Devotions Archive

Gratitude and grace

Thursday, March 27, 2014