Poise and the Spiritual Life, Part II

April 4, 1996

Wilderness Training Program

Distressful situations are ordained by God. Tests, trials and tribulations came to our Lord and they will come to the faithful believer in Christ Jesus. It is part of his wilderness training. (The carnal believer will not go through this program. His trials and tribulations are of his own making based on bad decisions.)

Each child of God who walks upon the path of righteousness will go through a customized wilderness training program with his very own valley of the shadow of death. He cannot complete his wilderness training program without the shadow of death course. Furthermore, no two training programs will be alike. But whatever program God individually designs for His children, it is designed for maximum effect. Why? Paul says it best from the second epistle to the Corinthians.

(v8)We were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; (v9)indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, (10) who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.

Trusting in God, not self Peace is a state of mind which transcends our problems, difficulties, and fears and latches, grips, locks on to the promises of God-all of which are "yes" in Christ Jesus. Such peace is the results of an absolute state of trust in God's faithfulness to deliver us from all difficult sitations. If we have such an attitude, if we hold to such a resolve, and if our fixation is upon Christ our Lord, we will have peace. This is a peace not of the world, but from Christ.

And this is where Christ continues to be our example. He was focused on God's plan for His life, balanced by God's Word, and now we shall discover that He was poised by the peace which comes from trusting God.

The Peace of God

The peace of God which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, Phil 4:7. This is often quoted, but without its background, its impact is little felt, and less understood. It is hoped with the study of focus, balance and poise, it will be more than a mystical concept, but a concrete reality by which to meet each and every difficult situation we will inevitably experience.

The Bible offers some great accounts about men and women who showed great poise: Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Ruth and Esther to name a few. But there is no other who maintained his poise under difficult and trying circumstances as Christ Jesus. I want to point out several biblical accounts which pressured Christ, yet He remained poised based on His focus on God's plan for His life and being balance by His Word.

satan's temptations, Mt. 4:1-11
the elements, Mk. 4:35-41
His family, Mk. 3:21
His home town residents, Lk. 4:21-30
His disciples, Mt. 16:21-23,Jn. 18:18
the crowds, Jn. 10:20, Jn. 16:15
religious leaders, Jn. 8:1-59
political leaders, Lk. 23:8-11
Gethsemane, Luke 22:44

Christ's Faith does not Falter

Time and space does not allow a full discussion of each point, but scriptural references have been provided for those who wish to further study the above. But in summary, here was a Man who was personally affronted by Satan to renounce God and worship he alone. He was summarily led Him to a cliff to be thrown over upon announcing He was the fulfiller of Isaiah. He overcame forty days in the wilderness and high winds on the sea. He had to bear with His family who thought He was mad, His disciples who questioned His judgement and the crowds who sought to make Him King. The religious leaders accused Him of being a drunkard and demon possessed, and the political leaders found Him amusing to seditious. And lastly, Christ was tempted with great vigor by Satan to pour out the contents of the cup His Father had given Him to drink. Those contents being the crucifiction. He resisted such thoughts to the point of sweating blood. Yet, He remained faithful to God and with poise was led to the slaughter. And these are just a few that the writers of the bible recorded.

So, despite all and everyone who pressured Him, He remainded calm, poised, and fully trusting in God for deliverance. Stress did not disrupt His peace, divert his attention, or disable His objectivity. Christ was above such pressures. He was focused on God's purpose for His life. He saw beyond the temporal to the eternal, beyond the impossibilities of human effort to God with Whom all things are possible. Here we see a spiritually mature man, filled with the Spirit, meet the pressures of life, endure the hurt and hate of His fellow man and remain at peace within Himself.

Yet can there be no greater example of such peace and poised as when Christ hung on the cross while his enemies taunted and chided Him to come down from it. As He struggled for each breathe, He said an amazing thing:

Remarkable words! But do they really surprise us? Christ was consistent throughout His life. His consistency was the result of His focus upon God's plan for His life and His balance upon God's Word of truth. And because of His absolute trust in His Father to deliver Him from all evil, He was poised and at peace in His soul despite what the world, the flesh, and the devil would throw at Him.

Christ Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He defines the Christian way of life and exemplifies the spiritual man. He always looked past the problems and to the solutions He knew God would provide. If we dare proclaim our own Christian faith and spirituality, let us be certain we know of what we speak. Are we focused on Christ, balanced on His Word, and poised and at peace in God's faithfulness to deliver us from each and every trial? Or do we go about as gods positively confessing our health, wealth, and prosperity? If we do, we show the world our true focus, self, not Christ.

It is time for a reality check. Go over the points below again and again. Do your own studies in these areas. Seek teachers of God's Word who have not signed on to the Word of Faith or Charismatic movement. Show true love for yourself by feeding upon God's Wisdom, not man's folly. You don't have to take my word, but it is wise to take God's Word.

• focused on God's plan for our life
• balanced on the whole counsel of God's Word
• poised despite all stressful situations
  

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright ©1960, 1962,, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by Permission. Copyright ©1996 Robert W. Case Jr.