The Empowered Christian Life, by J. I. Packer
Compare it to the training of children, and you’ll see my point. If difficult situations never demand self-denial and discipline, if there are never any sustained pressures to cope with, if long-term strategies never force you to stick with something for years to advance, there will never be any maturity of character. The children will remain spoiled all their lives, because everything has been made too easy for them. The Lord does not allow that to happen in the life of his children.
When one starts thinking in positive terms about the supernatural in one’s personal life, one must also remember it may very well please God to leave situations as they are, to decide not to work a miracle, to strengthen us his children who are involved in the situation so we can grow from it.
Empowered Ministry
2. It is right to aspire to use one’s God-given gifts in powerful and useful ministry.
It is right to want to know what gifts for ministry God has given us. It is right to want to harness them and see them used for the blessing of others as widely as possible.
But there is always a danger that the person who believes God has given him or her a good sprinkling of gifts will fall captive to that old enemy, self-importance. God does not value us according to the number of gifts we have, or by their spectacular quality. God does not value us primarily for what we can do—even what we can do in his strength. He values us primarily for what he makes us, character-wise, conforming us to Christ by his grace.
Jesus was already sounding the warning note when his disciples came back from a preaching tour all gung-ho and excited. “Lord,” they cried, “even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
“Very good,” says Jesus. “But don’t rejoice that the demons are subject to you. That is not the truly important thing. Rejoice, rather, that your names are written in heaven. Rejoice in your salvation. Rejoice in what you are by the grace of God, rather than in the way God uses you. Rejoice in being his child and in entering upon your destiny of being transformed into Jesus’ image.”
Category: Living the Faith, Pneuma Review, Winter 2008
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