The Impartation

This has been a laid-back summer, a summer in which I had anticipated more activity than it actually contained. For a busy person, this can be disappointing. I found myself waiting on God; waiting for Him to put more into my life . . . waiting for Him to put more into me. I wanted an impartation. This morning I was surprised to find that instead of adding to who I am, He validated all that is in me, bringing encouragement. It left me with a sense of contentment. I had felt a little empty this summer, unnecessarily, and am beginning to see that, when we feel sufficient in Christ, we have something to give others. It’s then that we see how much He has filled us up. But when we are looking inside ourselves we find lack, and our lives become about ourselves and our own perfection. True faith in God, then, includes trusting Him to complete what He has begun in us without our over-involvement and introspection.

Sometimes we feel that it’s not humble to be contented. If we are not working on some problem or repenting of some sin we feel proud and independent of God’s effort in our salvation. Yet Paul did not judge himself (1 Cor 4:3-4). He had that kind of trust in God that believed the Lover of his soul would correct and cleanse him, for His sake. The One Who resided in Paul’s heart chose to reside there, not because it was a perfect heart, but because it was a willing heart.

In our times of self-analysis we may find lack in ourselves, wanting God to impart something to us to make us more acceptable. However, that impartation came when we invited Jesus into our hearts. We have been given the fullness of Christ (Col 2:10). Daily our heavenly Father gives us all things which build up our righteousness as we grow in knowledge of Him (2 Pet 1:3-4). He gives us His fullness and prepares us in righteousness because of His great desire for us, and that desire fuels our lives. God is good. Today, let us trust all that we are to the Lover of our souls, for we are rich indeed, in Him. Amen.