thinking things about life and Jesus and stuff
The puritans tell us that there are things we do that can sabotage our ability to experience God like a good Father.
In the last post I shared 5 obstacles that limit our ability to taste His love. Here are another 6:
Obstacle #6: Keeping Satan’s counsel
Most days I forget about Satan. I forget that he’s real and whispering to me day in and day out and fueling the fire of doubt that God is not the Father He claims to be.
At C.J. Mahaney’s session at TGC he encouraged those of us who find ourselves doubting the love of God to devote ourselves to studying the doctrine of Adoption.
I thought to myself: yup! Pretty sure it wouldn’t hurt me to be more certain of God’s love. So, the day I got back from the Conference I flipped open A Puritan Theology to the chapter on adoption.
I like those crazy puritans. I like the way they talk about God with reverence and awe, and passion and urgency. Their encouragement to me and to you is this:
One of my favorite moments of The Gospel Coalition Conference was listening to CJ Mahaney speak about Adoption.
He shared a story from Garrison Keillor about a feeling I’m pretty familiar with:
I’ve been thinking a lot about the metaphor of God as a potter lately.
I have this weird (and obviously human) picture of God in my head: sitting there before the foundation of the world, with this piece of clay that would be me.
I can imagine him making me, my heart, mind, soul and strength with joy and intention.
I can imagine Him planning all my days, and making my clay have the perfect indentations to fit to the life He was making for me.
You know that angst you feel sometimes in your heart? That weird tension? A sort of homesickness.
That angst is God’s grace in your life. It reminds you that we’re not finished; that there’s more to come.
Check this out:
we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23 ESV)
Paul just set a few verses back that I was adopted, but now he tells me I’m waiting for my adoption? It’s weird how God talks about us as if we’re already kids and then turns around and talks about us as if we’re ‘waiting’ to become sons.
