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"The
real 'work' of prayer is to become silent and
listen to the voice that says good things about me
... and thereby discover an identity anchored in a
place beyond all human praise and
blame."
(Henri
Nouwen)
I Want Clarity
Our
pursuit of clarity may be one of our greatest
idolatries.
We
may not gaze at crystal balls or study Tarot
cards, but many of us are just as eager to "know
the future" as our unbelieving counterparts. We
pray, and pray hard, that God will "reveal His
will" by which we mean that He'll give us a
glimpse of the future and the best course of
action in a given
circumstance.
We
don't want to make a mistake, and so
find
ourselves walking by sight (clarity) and not by
faith
(trust).
The
Scriptures applaud Abraham because he obeyed God
and started travelling despite "not knowing where
he was going" (Heb 11.8). Similarly, many others
trusted God with their lives (and deaths) despite
not receiving "what was promised" (Heb 11.39). In
short, they were clear about who God is and His
call on their lives - and they simply trusted
everything else to
Him.
Brennan
Manning, in his book Ruthless
Trust, tells the story of the brilliant
ethicist John Kavanaugh who went to work for three
months at "the house of the dying" in Calcutta. He
wanted to know how best to spend the rest of his
life.
On
his first morning, he met Mother Teresa and she
asked, "What can I do for you?" Kavanaugh asked
her to pray for him.
"And
what do you want me to pray for?" she asked. He
expressed the deepest desire of his heart: "Pray
that I have
clarity."
She
said firmly, "No, I will not do that." Kavanaugh
was taken aback. Mother Teresa continued,
"Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to
and must let go of. " When Kavanaugh
commented that she always seemed to have
the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said,
"I have never had clarity; what I have always had
is trust. So I will pray that you trust
God."
So
often we want clarity - "If I choose this school,
how will it affect my future? If we get married,
will it work out? If we move there, will it be OK?
If I take that job, will I be happy?"
As leaders, we too idolize "clarity." We
grow anxious if our vision is not fulfilled. We
want clarity that our choices and decisions will
lead to
success.
In
the midst of it all, Christ calls us simply to
trust him, with a ruthless trust.
As
the crucifixion loomed, the disciples were
confused and anxious. They thought they had
clarity about the Kingdom ... and would have liked
confirmation. Jesus would oust the Romans and
liberate the Jews into the glorious messianic age.
Right? More persecution and death was not part of
the script. But Jesus simply refocused them with
these foundational words: "Don't be stressed about
what lies ahead; trust God, and trust Me" (Jn
14.1).
Will
we?
In HOPE -
David
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