Stirred Into Perfection

In the scriptures, God reveals that he wants to be a part of our lives (see verses Genesis 26:3,, 31:3, Exodus 3:12, Deuteronomy 31:23, Joshua 1:5, 3:7, Judges 6:16, I Kings 11:38 and Isaiah 43:2). God also desires that we be Holy for He is Holy (see verses Leviticus 11:44 & 45 and I Peter 1:15 & 16). In John 17, Jesus prays for us to be one with Him and The Father (verses 20-26). How can I be with God, as Holy as God, and in what is in me? This is a spiritual mystery but there is an analogy that helps us understand.

Imagine a glass of milk. Pour chocolate syrup into the milk. What you get is a glass of milk with chocolate syrup on the bottom. If you begin to stir the milk, the chocolate begins to rise and mix with the milk changing the milk into chocolate milk. If you quit stirring, the milk stays chocolate for a while. If you wait without stirring for a long while, the syrup settles out in the bottom and the fullness of the flavor is diminished. The chocolate flavor is still there and the slight brown color tells that there was once chocolate throughout the milk. To get the full flavor back into the full glass of milk the milk must be stirred again. As long as the stirring continues, the milk will have the flavor of the chocolate and the chocolate will have the flavor of the milk. This is God in me and me in God in accordance with John 17.

Tribulation is a form of stirring. If the tribulation is managed well, there will be no loss of milk or chocolate. If the stirring is too light, the chocolate is not picked up. If the stirring is too great, the milk and the chocolate are spilt. The verses concerning being Holy as God is Holy refer to putting ourselves out of the way of sin. Sin stirs us up, why not continue? Sin violates the boundary of the relationship as the violent stirring would violate the boundary of the glass. With violent tribulation we will be reduced to uselessness and therefore have no value to God. A well managed tribulation would produce just the right level of stirring so that the flavor, or purpose, would not be lost. The tribulation in our lives needs a competent manager. Only God has the power and knowledge and presence to be that competent manager. To be submitted to Him means we are not submitted to anything else. Totally submitted to God would put us in a state of being set aside for His purposes and that is the definition of Holy. To be submitted to God also gives Him permission to allow tribulation into our lives that will cause us to grow in His admonition and Spirit.

As we grow in His Spirit, we are becoming like Him. The more like Him we become the more we must be with Him because of the oneness that is the nature of God. So the tribulation brings us closer to being with God in all things and fulfills the ultimate purpose of God. Do not flee the tribulation, flee the evil one who would cause you to sin and waste the measure of faith in you. Only by submitting to God will the acts of righteousness work to His greater glory and our satisfaction. Only in submitting to Him can we really rest and enjoy what He has made us to be.