NOTES ON FINDING NEVERLAND: DIVINE WRESTLING VS. DEAD RECKONING IN THE SEARCH FOR ONE’S CALLING FOR THE LAST DAYS – (WITH VIDEO)

I. THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you.” – PSALM 32:8, AMP

KEY TERM: “COUNSEL.” ‘Yaats’ [אִֽיעֲצָ֖ה]: “From a primitive root, ‘To advise, deliberate or resolve; to determine, guide toward a purpose;’ imp. one’s willingness to be counseled; to exhort or admonish; to give advice; opinion, or instruction, given upon request or otherwise, for directing the judgment or conduct of another; opinion given upon deliberation or consultation.”

QUOTATION. “We must remember that the shortest distance between our problems and their solutions is the distance between our knees and the floor.” – CHARLES STANLEY, Handle with Prayer: Unwrap the Source of God’s Strength for Living, 2015; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘I will instruct thee’ — Whoever thou art that desirest instruction; and ‘the way which thou shalt go’ —That is, in which thou oughtest to walk. Thus, in another of his penitential Psalms, he resolves that when God should restore to him the joy of his salvation, he would ‘teach transgressors His ways,’and do what he could to convert sinners to God, as well as comfort those that were converted, Psalm 51:12. Those are best able to teach others the grace of God who have themselves had the experience of it. And those who are themselves taught of God ought to tell others what He hath done for their souls, and so to teach them.

‘I will guide thee with Mine eye’ — This may be understood of God’s conduct toward, and direction of, His people. He guides them with His eye, by His clear sight and discernment of the way in which they ought to go, giving them information in His Word, and secret intimations of His will and their duty, by his Spirit and the turns of His Providence, which He enables His people to understand and take directions from, as a Master makes a servant know His mind by the look or motion of His eye. But the words are rather, to be considered as David’s declaration or promise to those who were willing to be directed by Him.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

II. WRESTLING

So, here’s the deal, beloved. Whether we are trying to decide on what to wear to work today for the special interview we are engaging or deciding on how to best spend our money on which cause that needs some support, we need to Hear God’s Instruction.

Especially in the Days of Struggle that are just ahead.

THE BIG THREE. Over the many years I have been counseling young people, I remind them that there are THREE MAJOR CHOICES that they must make in planning their Futures. All of these are contingent upon God’s Will of course, but we do this as a negotiation, as it were. We express what we desire, and He either ‘Confirms or Redirects’ that desire to conform to His.

WHERE TO LIVE. The least important of the three, it is nonetheless a decision that ought to be weighed prayerfully and carefully. In my life for example, I grew up in California, then moved to Ohio for graduate school, then to Virginia for a long time for my work, and finally to Colorado in my later years. Environments affect us, so without question, I am grateful to be finishing my race midst the glorious Rocky Mountains in the land of pristine air and four seasons.

WHAT TO DO. Of obviously massive importance, this is THE CALL on Your Life that God has planned for you. JEREMIAH 29:11 (AMP): “‘For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Amplified). This is placed in The Center of the Three Choices since it is the central, driving goal of every person’s life, Christian or Pagan. As I recently shared, “Finding the Zone” is finding God’s Calling, and real joy and fruitfulness depends on successfully determining what that is.

WHO (OR WHETHER) TO MARRY. Very nearly equal to your discovery of Your Calling in life, is the Choice of a Spouse – presuming you desire to marry. I remember as a newly minted Christian around the year 1980 discussing this with my beloved Pastor, Eugene Kraft at Lincoln Neighborhood Church in Stockton, California about that time. I had been married for a short time before being saved and it was a painful experience, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give it another go. Pastor’s Counsel: “Cliff, the wife you choose will likely make or break your ministry, it’s that important.” The Scriptures would agree: “The one who associates with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” – PROVERBS 13:20, AMPC

THE STRUGGLE. For those of us who have spent considerable time following Jesus understand that FINDING ANSWERS is not ipso facto, “Here ya’ go, Kid” sort of proposition. The two verses that follow the citation from Jeremiah 29:11 above read, for example: “Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” – VV. 12-13, AMPC

Thus commences a Great Wrestling with the Lord, not unlike the one between JACOB and his epic struggle with THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, wherein he would not let the Lord go until he received “The Blessing.” Or in our case, “The Answer.” And for the record, Almighty God absolutely relishes such spiritual aggressiveness after the Will of the Father. He likewise detests the Lukewarm Neutrality of so many believers today.

“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’” – GENESIS 32:24-26, NKJV

THE COROLLARY. For some, this Divine Wrangling will be comparatively gentle, depending on God’s Plan for that individual and their capacity for The Struggle. But as military linguist and novelist D. L. FOWLER once wrote of this: “‘Those who endure the hardest preparation are called on to finish the greatest tasks.’ I don’t know what you’ve been called to, but rest assure, you won’t have to go through it alone.” ― Lincoln’s Diary, 2011; edited

Thus, there is magnificent Grace and ample Supply from our King as we are instructed about our “Mission for God,” as the infamous Blues Brothers termed it in their madcap comedy movie by that name in 1980. Their Objective: To raise $5,000 to keep open a Catholic Orphanage where they had been raised as kids. They did so, and, significantly, they paid a high price for succeeding despite the nobility of their cause. Selah.

III. LAST THOUGHTS

THE PRIVILEGE. “If God allows you to wrestle with Him, it is not so there will be a winner and a loser. He doesn’t need to prove He is stronger, and you are weaker. No. ‘The point of wrestling with God is to give you an opportunity to cling to Him. God wants you to hang on to Him no matter what — and the result will be blessing.’ You are blessed when you bring your hurts and questions to God and struggle with them in His presence. In that Divine Wrestling Match, you may feel wounded, but you will also receive a blessing you couldn’t have received any other way.” ― JENNIFER ROTHSCHILD,God Is Just Not Fair: Finding Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, 2014; edited

Why do we refer to this Spiritual Event as “A Privilege,” beloved? Because the majority of American Christians will never fully engage it, because it exacts GREAT COST. Frankly, most believers don’t what to pay the “Iron Price” of giving up all to the Messiah.

As JESUS OF NAZARETH prophesied: “For many are called (invited, summoned), but few are chosen.” – MATTHEW 22:34, AMP

Or as DEITRICH BONHOEFFER wrote of this and lived it more passionately than the great majority of us, I quote at considerable length his commentary from the classic, Cost of Discipleship (1937). It is a literary and theological tour de force of what truly following Christ means – and what failure to obey His Calling looks like.

“Cheap Grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?

Cheap Grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap Grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly Grace is the Treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the Pearl of Great Price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the Kingly Rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the Call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly Grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the Gift which must be asked for, the Door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the Life of His Son: ‘Ye were bought at a price,’ and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. ‘Costly grace is the Incarnation of God!’”

THE CALL. Possibly the finest treatment of “Finding Neverland,” i.e., discovering God’s Call on a life was written by English Christian author, theologian and social critic DR. OS GUINESS, titled, appropriately, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life (1998; edited). Here are some of his main ideas from that now classic work

FINDING GOD. “We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God—which is another way of saying that our seeking will always fall short unless God’s Grace initiates the search and unless God’s Call draws us to him and completes the search.”

FINDING MOTIVATION. “We are not wise enough, pure enough, or strong enough to aim and sustain such a single motive over a lifetime. That way lies fanaticism or failure. But if the single motive is the Master Motivation of God’s Calling, the answer is yes. In any and all situations, both today and tomorrow’s tomorrow, God’s Call to us is the unchanging and ultimate whence, what, why, and whither of our lives. Calling is a ‘Yes’ to God that carries a ‘No’ to the chaos of modern demands. Calling is the key to tracing the story line of our lives and unriddling the meaning of our existence in a chaotic world.”

FINDING FOCUS. “When Christians concentrate their time and energy on their own separate spheres and their own institutions-whether all-absorbing Megachurches, Christian Yellow-Page Businesses, or womb-to-tomb Christian Cultural Ghettoes-they lose the outward thrusting, transforming power that is at the heart of the Gospel! Instead of being ‘salt’ and ‘light’-images of a permeating and penetrating action-Christians and Christian institutions become soft and vulnerable to corruption from within.”

FINDING COURAGE. “Faith in Christ will regain its decisive authority in the modern world only when we who follow Christ fear God more than we fear the powers and favors of modernity—when we hear God’s Call and are so captured by His Summons that we say with Luther, as the earliest printed reports add, ‘Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise!’”

FINDING NEVERLAND. “True Seekers are different. On meeting them you feel their purpose, their energy, their integrity, their idealism, and their desire to close in on an answer. Something in life has awakened questions, has made them aware of a sense of need, has forced them to consider where they are in life. They have become seekers because something has spurred their quest for meaning, and they have to find an answer … ‘Calling is the TRUTH that God calls [them] to.’”

REDIRECTION. During my graduate school days in Ohio in the early 1970s, I fell in intellectual love with something called, General Systems Theory. Pioneered by such science pioneers as Austrian biologist LUDWIG VON BERTALANFFY and others in the 1950s, from it I discovered the fascinating concept of:

“Recalibration.” This refers to the idea that when a human system such as the family moves outside its individual roles and functions – or tires of them – the system is thrown out of balance and must ‘recalibrate’ in order to function properly.

“Reset.” As I thought of all this, I began to offer advice to mostly young people seeking direction in life to “Be ready for the Reset.” Roughly translated, it refers to those Life Events that cause us to rethink everything: Our direction, or career, our identity, our very reason for being, especially in these Last Times of utter chaos and unpredictability.

Crisis. It has been my personal observation and experience that for the followers of Christ in the Last Times, a radical change in direction is most often ignited by a Major Crisis of some kind, literally forcing us to reconsider where we are, what we do, and where we age going. Ergo, ‘The Reset.’

THE PLAN. Early in my matriculation as a Christian Professor, I attended a sermon by the then Superintendent of Assemblies of God Churches, THOMAS F. ZIMMERMAN on the campus of University of the Pacific (CA) where I was an assistant professor of communication at the time.

His message I remember to this very day: “A Man, A Mission, A Moment.” It was essentially a Précis on Moses in three parts. (1) The Biography of the Man in Egypt; (2) The Mission assigned to him by Yahweh that constituted his massive “Reset” to lead the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land; (3) The Moment of his New Direction to radically Find God and his True Purpose in life.

THE PRINCIPLE. “Beloved,” said the old preacher, “it has been my experience in following our Lord that – ‘God will often take fifty years to prepare us for a Five Minute Ministry.’”

Thus it is with my own Story Reset that after a nearly 50 year preparation as a teacher that began in 1970 in my doctoral days at Bowling Green University in Ohio, until 2020, when I was called to start The Circuit Ride Enterprise. Selah.

THE CALL. Beloved, no matter your age or even your condition in life, The Plan is etched into the very palms of God’s mighty hands. If you need clarification of that Plan, begin to dig in and dig down in your prayers for His Answer. It may be that He will Call you to stay put and receive updated instructions. Or, He may Reset you completely and take you to places, people and potentials that you never dreamt of.

Whatever He decides for the days ahead, let our Reply be that of the young Prophet: “Here am I, Lord. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). To then get ready for the Adventure of a Lifetime, as we labor for Him in the messy, chaotic vineyards of humans and devils and angels in these Last Days: ‘To Rescue whoever will listen to us!’

Selah.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/O-ssbLHkmzc