rescue.

September 22, 2010

“I’m a mass of contradictions; I don’t want to be but I am.

I preach a gospel of peace, but my life isn’t always driven by peace.

I talk about a Jesus who alone can fully satisfy the soul, but I am often not satisfied.

I celebrate a theology of amazing grace, but I often react in ungrace.

And if I rest in God’s control, why do I seek it for myself?

Even in moments when I think I am prepared, I end up doing what I didn’t want to do.

Irritation

Impatience

Envy

Discontent

Wrong talk

Anger

Self-focus

Are not the fruits of new life, are not the way of grace. 

So there is this law operating inside of me.

When I step out with a desire to do good, evil follows me wherever I go.

There is this war that rages inside of me, between a desire for good and sin that is anything but good…

I am thankful for God’s grace, but there is daily evidence that I’m still in need of help.

That battle inside me cannot be solved by

Theology

Strategies

Principles

Techniques

Plans

Preparation

Helpful hints

Outlines.

I have been humbled by the war I cannot win.

I have been grieved by desires I cannot conquer.

I have been confronted by actions I cannot excuse.

And I have come to confess that what I really need is rescue.

So, have mercy on me, O God,

According to your unfailing love

According to your great compassion

Blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions

And my sin is always before me.

I embrace the rescue that could only be found in You.

Thanks be to God– through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

-Paul David Tripp, Whiter than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy