Oswald Chambers on being in the hands of God

Posted on October 31, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 5 Comments

Oswald Chambers
The appeal made in Christian work nowadays is that we must keep ourselves fit for our work, we must not; we must be in the hands of God for God to do exactly what He likes with us, and that means disentanglement from everything that would hinder His purpose. If you want to remain a full-orbed grape you must keep out of God’s hands for He will crush you, wine cannot be had in any other way. The curse in Christian work is that we want to preserve ourselves in God’s museum; what God wants is to see where Jesus Christ’s men and women are. The saints are always amongst the unofficial crowd, the crowd that is not noticed, and their one dominant note is Jesus Christ.

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

On the need for a prophetic voice

The bottom is that I need a prophetic voice in my life. So, I guess I’m OK with my pastor making me feel uncomfortable. Perhaps in this I am in a minority.

No room for self-pity

I do a lot of whining to God. One one hand, God is the perfect target of whining because he can take it, and he can bring correct to me and the situation that I’m whining about. But in thinking about this, I realize that there is no room for self-pity in Christian maturity.

On eloquence (or lack thereof) in prayer

I must confess that I am sometimes intimidated about praying in a church gathering such as a prayer meeting or small group. My brain is not wired to call up Old Testament images about restoring what the locusts have eaten or calling down mighty angels. These references make those adept at praying sound so . . . so . . . spiritual and powerful.

Self inflicted wounds

When those outside the church criticize our lack of and hypocrisy, we respond as if we are being persecuted. But much of the perceived “persecution” is self-inflicted. We are rightly condemned by the culture around us when we fail to represent Jesus well.

When treated like a servant . . .

The bottom is that I don’t need to be validated by others when I am a servant of Jesus Christ, because Jesus gives me the ultimate status as a child of God.

No retreat baby and no surrender – Inspired by Bruce Springsteen

The Bruce Springsteen song “No Surrender” inspired some thoughts about what is worthy of such dogged pursuit by the believer. See what the Apostle Paul and C. S. Lewis have to say in relation to this.