A few months ago I was listening to this sermon by A.W. Tozer and was really struck by something he said. The sermon is on "The Holiness of God" and it's the one from which that chapter in his book "The Attributes of God" was transcribed. He describes how we will all stand naked before "the uncreated beam" of God's gaze and in that hour no one will be able to help us. He talks about how we are so quick to throw Bible verses and trite, easy answers at people who are struggling with God or are under conviction from him. "I DON'T WANT TO BE COMFORTED!" he says, "I want to know that I will be accepted when I stand before the Holy God."
That phrase has stuck in my mind and I've thought of it often. I thought of it again two Sunday's ago as we looked at Romans 9 and the labyrinth of God's sovereignty together. Any time we are talking to someone and they are feeling troubled about something, our first impulse is to make things ok. To try to say something that will make them feel better. What if God isn't concerned about us feeling better? What if we are actually robbed of something great and eternal (namely, an experiential knowledge of the Holy One) by not pressing into and through the discomfort?
I don't want to be comforted anymore. I want to hear God speak. I want to walk with people through stuff, but not by trying to make everything "ok" until God makes it ok.
Just a thought. Here is that sermon (in three parts):
In the beautiful name of Jesus,
Mark
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