A Journey of Sanctification
Waiting for the Lord’s deliverance has always been a challenge for me. You see, I may not be the smartest of men, but I am smart enough to know that if I am not cautious, if I do not watch every step I make, pride could easily and stealthily choke my heart. I grew up in Los Angeles, and in high school, I was a tenor in one of the best music programs in California. My tenor voice astonished my family and my peers. Soon, I was on stage, performing in musical after musical, and that is when pride overcame the boy God called me to be. That is when I began to think I was special. Back then, I was oblivious, but when classmates would tell me how good I was in each show, instead of giving the glory to the Lord where it belongs, I took the glory for myself, reveling in a talent the Lord gave me, on loan at that.
I am thankful that those formative years in Los Angeles were marked by trial and tribulation because through those trials, the Lord changed me. Before he changed me, I dreamed that someday I’d be a star. I didn’t get far. So, I sure found out the hard way that the Lord had other plans for me. By the end of that season, I was broke, leaving Los Angeles on the midnight train to Houston to live with my mother.
During this present season in my life, as the Lord continues to change me, I find myself still struggling. Pride, fear, and worry are still trying to choke my heart. In desperation, I cry out to the Lord, seeking His deliverance, my soul yearning for Him to deliver me now, without delay.
In 1 Peter 1:2 (NIV), Peter tells us, “Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood.” We, as God’s children, want to be microwaved. We want the Lord, in four to six minutes, to deliver us from pride, anger, lust, fear, and everything else. But it appears to me that the Lord is not into microwaving; the Lord is into marinating. The Lord is into sanctifying.
Sanctification, the lifelong process of the Lord purifying our hearts and minds, is a process that takes our entire lives. It would help us so much to recognize that our growth is not within our own control; instead, and thankfully, our growth is entirely in the hands of the Almighty.
So, we wait on the Lord. We wait for His kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We wait and we press on. We press on as we fall, we press on as we stand, we press on through persecution, and we press on through war.
We press on and study His words of life, truth, and power, as Peter tells us, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3).
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Scripture is quoted from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
