“Receive everything that happens today as passing through God’s sovereign hands before it gets to you.”
This affirmation is the positive side of the previous one, which directed us to “ruthlessly eliminate all expectations” regarding how our day should go. The positive side is for those who make plans but allow God to overrule their plans.
Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
(“Day by Day,” Carolina Sandell Berg, first stanza)
In this affirmation we approach God the Father as Sovereign. He is the King who loves us. And He has hands: Jesus Christ, who is the visible expression of the Father, and the Church, which is the visible expression of Jesus Christ. Jesus died, arose from the dead and ascended to the Father. When he took his place at the right hand of God, he poured out the Holy Spirit for the first time on his faithful followers who were gathered in the upper room. In them the Church was born.
To those of us who are on the trail of transformation, whether we move in the company of the Church or for now have to travel alone, Jesus sends an invitation. “Make your home in me, as I make mine in you” (John 15:4). The true source of life for each of us is Christ Jesus. He imparts life to our spirits by making himself at home there. From our regenerated spirits, life flows out to our souls. Like the manna in the wilderness, this soul-aspect of life is evanescent. It is meant to be shared and consumed before it expires. It is renewed from our spirits, which remain established in Christ.
Our Father is reestablishing in us the order He intended—the order of spirit first, then soul and body—that existed when humans were created. The human spirit He brings into subjection to Himself. He trains the soul to keep looking to the spirit for its life—the spirit that is the dwelling place of His Son, the Spirit of Life. The soul, which is the seat of the mind, will and emotions, finds this training hard to accept. Why?
- The soul in its fallen state was accustomed to independence. But we have died to the old nature in which the soul was dominant. Now the soul must learn to submit to the spirit.
- There are many outside sources—foreign influences—upon which the soul can draw, instead of the spirit. All of these sources are contrary to the Spirit of Life, although they appear to have life in themselves.
- There are necessities to which we must attend, or so it appears. Inimical forces pressure us and distract us from God.
We receive this training of our souls not primarily for our own benefit but for the sake our Heavenly Father. He loves us; in this way we return that love to Him. We can pray along with Jesus, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27-28).
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