When the Statements are Difficult

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" John 6:60 (New American Standard Bible)

Have you ever felt like some of Jesus’ disciples when they could not grasp what was being told to them? His “difficult statements” were often hard for them to take in and digest. Resistance was strong even among his own followers. A phone conversation two evenings ago caused me to feel like them. What was being said was true and meant for my ears, but the statements were difficult to receive. God was using a dear friend to help me confront some lies I had been believing and that were hindering me from walking in truth and hence in freedom. It gave me much to think about the following day and for most of the day I was not doing well at releasing the lies and embracing the truth. Many of you will understand when I tell you my day was not marked with peace, joy, or contentment. By late afternoon I was exhausted and ended up taking a four hour nap. Oh the joy of physical rest that can lead to spiritual renewal!

What seemed so hard to understand just a day ago has begun to make a lot of sense now. What once kept me in turmoil has subsided. My perspective has changed and with that change has come the ability to see truth and stand on it! If I want a God-filled life and I want freedom it is going to come from living out of my spirit not my flesh. When I view relationships, situations, and circumstances simply through my flesh I am missing most of the picture. Whereas when I view those things through my spirit, which lives connected to God, I can begin to see what God wants me to see. Seeing others in a bad light, harboring suspicions, and living with a sense of condemnation are all signs that I am looking at things from my flesh. God’s Spirit, who lives in me, wants to change all that. He wants me to receive and digest information via my spirit because that is the part of me that is awakened to God’s voice and influence. My flesh will never get it right and my spirit will never get it wrong.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. May those words define the way I live my Christian life! I have not seen the end of difficult statements. But hopefully from now on they will be heard with spirit ears instead of fleshly ears. Hopefully my ability to understand what is being said will be more acute.

Father, help me to live out of my spirit rather than my flesh. As I do so, the transformation will be evident and profound. Amen.