Out of the Blue – by Desmond Ford
Feb 9, 2016 2059
The most significant things that happen to us are not the ones planned or premeditated. They are the ones that come out of the blue like an angel, or a demon; like the glory of a rainbow, or a shaft of lightning. Who is sufficient for these things? No one. Nobody has the strength, or the wisdom, to successfully cope with all the emergencies of life. We need God and we need him every moment − and the wise man and the wise woman is the one who acknowledges that fact continually. This is faith.
Saving faith, of course, comprehends more than that – it lays hold of the merits of the Divine-human sacrifice for the sins of the world, and applies the merits of that sacrifice to one’s own soul. It is the sense of dependence, which characterized the lepers Christ healed, the beggars he enriched, the despairing he encouraged, and the dying to whom he gave life. This sense of dependence is the beginning and the root of saving faith.
Scripture promises that God will show us the path of life. Unless he does, we will inevitably wander in hopeless circles among the tombs of the dead, soon to lie down beside them in their darkness. We need the light of the world (John 8:12; 1:9) to shine upon us every moment. We do not perceive the pitfalls all about him.
When we know we are weak, we are strong. God has promised “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). He fills the hungry with good things but turns the rich away. He pulls princes down from their thrones and exalts beggars from their dunghills. “In Your light we see light” (Psalm 36:9). Chapters 3 and 8 of Proverbs speak highly of wisdom, describing it as the Tree of Life, and promising that all who lay hold of wisdom shall be happy. This wisdom is true faith.
− Des Ford. Rom 8:27-32. Adapted from “The Key to Every Door Worth Opening – Part 1.”
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