Do you remember why you have been saved? So that the Son of God will be manifested in your life. Now you must harness all your powers to realize your election as a child of God; rise to the occasion, every time.
You can’t do anything for your salvation, but you must do something to manifest it in the world. You must work out what God has worked in. Are you working it out with your mind, your tongue, your body? Or are you still the same miserable, cranky person, set on having your own way? If you are, it’s a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.
“With my God I can scale a wall” (Psalm 18:29). God is the Master Engineer. He allows difficulties in order to see if you can overcome them. Because you are his child, he will never shield you from his requirements. Peter says, “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you” (1 Peter 4:12). Rise to the occasion. Do the difficult thing. As long as a trial gives God the opportunity to manifest himself in your body, in whatever way he wants, it doesn’t matter how much it hurts. The aim of the disciple’s life is to let the Son be manifested so that the Father can do whatever he wants with us. We are not here to dictate to God. We are here to submit to his will, so that he may work through us, using us to feed and nourish others.
God never has museums. We have to keep ourselves ready, so that the Son of God can be manifested in us here and now. May God find the whine in us no longer. May he find us instead full of spiritual pluck and daring, eager to face anything he brings.
