Sing, O Barren...

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Those who have spent time in one of the Lord's prisons will understand readily what it means to be "barren." Other believers appear to be prospering. They are having no problems, apparently. But we seem to be desolate. Has God forsaken us? Are His promises no longer valid? Where is He, the One who is supposed to be faithful? Is He a liar, as Satan declares so often?

(1/9/2011). But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (Psalms 73:2,3)

The route to fruitfulness is barrenness. Why is this? It is because Christ wants to be the One who prospers us. He Himself wants to be our strength, our joy, our song, our wisdom, our hope, our peace, our fruitfulness. Perhaps we have had some success as a Christian. We have brought forth some fruit in personal growth and in ministry to others. We have a solid testimony of godly behavior. We may have come to the conclusion that this is all there is to the Christian discipleship.

Then God sees that we are ready to bear more fruit and much fruit. So He begins the pruning process. Little by little what we have trusted in is removed from us. We do not understand what is taking place in our life. We may have been taught that Christ wants us to be happy; He suffered so we do not have to suffer; He was poor so we may be wealthy.

I am afraid this is what is being taught in our day; but such teachers have not walked very far with the Consuming Fire of Israel. They have not shared in the sufferings of Christ. They are "saved," but for the most part are little more than an intelligent animal. All people, saved and unsaved alike, are intelligent animals until God decides they are ready to become a new creation in Christ.

When I first became a Christian I was taught that if any person is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. I did not realize that this passage of the Bible is literally true. But stop and think! If we are to become a new creation, what then happens to the old creation? Obviously the first creation, the natural man, must give way to a new personality.

All fine and good. But what must happen if the first personality is to give way to a new creation? The first creation must be removed, obviously. I must add that the first creation cannot be modified and adapted to the Kingdom of God. Our natural abilities are as clay. The new creation is as gold and silver. They do not mix. As the sixth chapter of Romans informs us, the old creation must be crucified so our sinful nature may be dealt with and removed.

If we have prospered in our natural state, Christ will replace this with His prosperity. We may be reduced to poverty until we have to look to Christ in order to survive. It may get down to one day at a time. This is the lesson of the daily manna. Such utter dependence on Christ must become part of our character, just as the jar of manna was placed in the Ark of the Covenant. If we have been strong spiritually and physically, Christ will bring us into circumstances that weaken us until we have the sentence of death in ourselves. Only then can He replace our natural strength with His unlimited, eternal strength.

The weakening process is not pleasant, in any case. But we can make it easier by not holding on to our own way of doing things and looking to Jesus constantly that we may live and work in His strength. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (I Corinthians 12:9)

It may be true that we are a naturally joyful person, optimistic, looking at the bright side of things. Christ may bring us into situations in which it is difficult to rejoice. But Paul commanded us to rejoice in the Lord always—and this when he was in prison!

We may have been brought very low. Anyone can rejoice and praise the Lord when he is surrounded with pleasant prospects. But to praise the Lord when we are in the midst of dreadful prospects is an act of majestic faith and very pleasing to the Lord. We may have to pray much before we are able to rejoice in the midst of adversity. The first personality can sing hymns and choruses when in church and his circumstances are reasonably pleasant. When we are in one of the Lord's prisons it may be easy to fret and complain. But Christ can be our song at that time. His song does not depend on our circumstances.

We may be an intelligent person and careful in our decisions. Yet we will learn from our experiences never to take anything for granted; never to rely on our own judgment. The more we look to Jesus for His wisdom in every situation, the more we will avoid the traps set by Satan. We may be wise. But Christ is infinitely wiser; and true wisdom on our part is to ask Jesus about everything throughout each day and night. Christ wants to be our hope.

We never can make a success of the victorious Christian life until we place all of our treasures in Heaven. It is so easy to grasp things, relationships, and situations, believing we will find love, joy, and peace in these. But they all will fail. For this reason we absolutely must place all of our treasures beyond the grave into the next world. If we do not, we will not be able to make the transition to the new creation.

Peace is a treasure of incalculable worth. The history of the world is largely the attempt of people and nations to find peace. But enduring peace always seems to elude the sincere attempts of people and nations. Certainly an abundance of money does not bring peace. The individual possessing one million dollars is miserable because someone else has two million dollars.

The supreme goal of the intelligent individual is righteousness, love, joy, and peace. But outside of Christ there is no lasting peace. He Himself is the Prince of Peace, and there is no other. The peace of Christ dwelling in our heart is able to overcome adverse circumstances.

To be fruitful is to have the Nature of Christ developed in our personality, and to assist in the growth of Christ in other people. This is not possible until we have been pruned such that our natural strength and abilities have been replaced by the Virtue that is in Christ.

We do not have to strain in order to bear such fruit. Rather we have to abide in Christ. In order to abide in Christ we must, through Him, overcome the myriad of forces that come against us that would cause us to look back to our own strength and wisdom instead of dwelling in Christ.

This is why the barren rejoice. True, they have endured a season of grief during which it seems the Lord has forsaken them. They remember that God has promised joy, although weeping endures for a season. They stand on the promise that those who weep now will rejoice later."For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:7,8)

For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)

Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

One of the main problems of today is that of fretting about the wickedness in the world. We American Christians are seeing the trampling of our values as the government pursues its own objectives. But if we are to be elders, standing always before the Throne of God, we must keep on casting down our crowns in the Presence of God and the Lamb. This means that we keep saying "Not my will but Yours be done."

It has been given to the saints to govern the works of God's hands; but not in our natural wisdom and strength. We must patiently await God's time so that it always is Christ, and not us, who is prevailing. God has promised that the events of history are working for our good. Realizing this, fretting about the current evil is a sign of our unbelief, of our unwillingness to rejoice as God works His works in the earth.

Whenever we read the Bible promises that we will be made barren, we notice that they are followed by Divine treasures of restoration and glory.

Our prisons, our barrenness, are bringing toward the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace. (Isaiah 54:11-13)

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