"CONFOUNDED TO BE USED"
This title is a chapter in a book I am reading.."HAVING A MARY SPIRIT". The author, Joanna Weaver was going through as she refers to it, "black difficult times with my friends". She said the word confound was the word that kept coming to mind to describe her situation. She looked the word up and it meant, "to confuse or perplex as well as to contradict or refute." An archaic meaning is to defeat or overthrow. She said, the bible seemed to go along with the last meaning because God had only confounded His enemies in scripture. But she knew this wasn't the case this time because He had continually reassured her of His love through this. She knew this wasn't punishment but a necessary pruning. "But why this confounding? this pain? this frustrating confusion?" (her words)
Another word that kept coming to her was "meekness". She was telling her friend about it and her friend asked, "what does meekness mean"? Joanna told her, the most popular definition is "strength under control" and then she went on to add, "you know, like a wild stallion that has been tamed." She then said, "Suddenly, like a lightning bolt in my mind, the two concepts that had been stirring in my soul seemed to transpose over each other, and I saw what God was up to." "That's what it is!" "That's why God has been confounding me."
She went on to explain what she was just beginning to understand. "How do you break a wild horse?" "You confound it." "It wants to go right you pull on the reigns and make it go left. "It wants to run; you pull it to a stop." It wants to stand, you make it run. "You confuse and contradict and, in a sense, defeat it--by refusing to give the horse its way." "You confound the horse because it needs to obey." "For until it does the animal will be useless to its master." She then remembered someone telling her they had bought a horse with a soft mouth. She said it responded to her every move without being forced. She only had to suggest a turn with the rein or press with her knee, and the horse immediately goes where she wants it to go.
Well, we aren't horses but we definitely have a mind of our own. So many times our mind tells us to go one direction but the Holy Spirit is leading us in a different direction. We tend to follow our feelings much more than we should. We are more in tune with what our five senses are saying than what the Holy Spirit is saying. We end up doing things our way instead of God's way. Most of this is done unconsciously, we want to do God's will..so we set out to do it. We begin to try to perform His will in our flesh which leads to confusion because we can't understand why it isn't working. The truth is, we don't realize what we are doing..we love God and want to do His Word. We are doing what we think and feel God wants us to do instead of resting in the Truth of His Word and being led by His Spirit. We take charge!!
In walks pride..we are doing what the Word says, why isn't it working. I have said these very words. Since God knows what I am thinking, I just go ahead and say it out loud to Him. "God, I'm doing everything right, why isn't it working?" (I'm a spoiled brat!!) Well, He answered me..I heard in my spirit, "you trust more in your doing than in Me and My Word." He knows how to shut me up. I said, out loud again..ok.
His Word doesn't work because I do it..His Word works because HE IS!!!
Heb. 11:6 - "But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
So, when everything in us seems to be confounded and confused...we may be in the breaking process. God doesn't want us doing what we think or feel He wants us to do. He wants us to be soooo in tune with His Word and His Spirit that when He speaks, we just obey. John 10:4,27 say, "My sheep know My voice".."My sheep hear My voice" and "follow Me."
Our good intentions are not always God's intentions.
Isaiah 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." 9 - "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
I pray God to be broken from all my ways and my thoughts. I pray for Your ways and Your thoughts to be dominant in me. In Jesus name, amen
Praising God for loving me enough to break me
Connie
Another word that kept coming to her was "meekness". She was telling her friend about it and her friend asked, "what does meekness mean"? Joanna told her, the most popular definition is "strength under control" and then she went on to add, "you know, like a wild stallion that has been tamed." She then said, "Suddenly, like a lightning bolt in my mind, the two concepts that had been stirring in my soul seemed to transpose over each other, and I saw what God was up to." "That's what it is!" "That's why God has been confounding me."
She went on to explain what she was just beginning to understand. "How do you break a wild horse?" "You confound it." "It wants to go right you pull on the reigns and make it go left. "It wants to run; you pull it to a stop." It wants to stand, you make it run. "You confuse and contradict and, in a sense, defeat it--by refusing to give the horse its way." "You confound the horse because it needs to obey." "For until it does the animal will be useless to its master." She then remembered someone telling her they had bought a horse with a soft mouth. She said it responded to her every move without being forced. She only had to suggest a turn with the rein or press with her knee, and the horse immediately goes where she wants it to go.
Well, we aren't horses but we definitely have a mind of our own. So many times our mind tells us to go one direction but the Holy Spirit is leading us in a different direction. We tend to follow our feelings much more than we should. We are more in tune with what our five senses are saying than what the Holy Spirit is saying. We end up doing things our way instead of God's way. Most of this is done unconsciously, we want to do God's will..so we set out to do it. We begin to try to perform His will in our flesh which leads to confusion because we can't understand why it isn't working. The truth is, we don't realize what we are doing..we love God and want to do His Word. We are doing what we think and feel God wants us to do instead of resting in the Truth of His Word and being led by His Spirit. We take charge!!
In walks pride..we are doing what the Word says, why isn't it working. I have said these very words. Since God knows what I am thinking, I just go ahead and say it out loud to Him. "God, I'm doing everything right, why isn't it working?" (I'm a spoiled brat!!) Well, He answered me..I heard in my spirit, "you trust more in your doing than in Me and My Word." He knows how to shut me up. I said, out loud again..ok.
His Word doesn't work because I do it..His Word works because HE IS!!!
Heb. 11:6 - "But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
So, when everything in us seems to be confounded and confused...we may be in the breaking process. God doesn't want us doing what we think or feel He wants us to do. He wants us to be soooo in tune with His Word and His Spirit that when He speaks, we just obey. John 10:4,27 say, "My sheep know My voice".."My sheep hear My voice" and "follow Me."
Our good intentions are not always God's intentions.
Isaiah 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." 9 - "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
I pray God to be broken from all my ways and my thoughts. I pray for Your ways and Your thoughts to be dominant in me. In Jesus name, amen
Praising God for loving me enough to break me
Connie
Amen! Amen! I really enjoyed that book too! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you~
Cindy :)
Connie,
ReplyDeleteI am sure you already knew how I would feel about this subject. This is percisely what God does with us. In spite of our own desire to become what we think God wants us to be, He keeps us reigned in, developing us into exactly what He created us for. I can truly understand our good intentions part. I have participated in so many wrongs out of good intentions over the years, that I couldn't even begin to count them. At the time, I didn't know they were wrong, but in the end God graciously showed me they were.
I think one of the greatest levels that God brings us to, is Him allowing us to know that He is on the job with us 24 hours a day. God can bring us to a point of understanding, that even if in my "good intentions" I go the wrong direction, it won't destroy me, because He is the one that really is in control. I know a lot of us struggle with this free will issue, but God in His own way, will lead us in our free will to decide that His way is the only way. God will do just as you wrote. He will pull the reigns to the left when we are going to the right. He will prod us to go forward when we are standing still. And He will pull the reigns back when we are running. Because of what God allows us to see, we will decide to follow Him. I guess we could compare it to a baseball pitcher. A team has a guy who can throw the baseball 100 miles per hour. He is very good but could be even better if he can learn to change the speeds of hard he throws the ball. He will keep batters off balance trying to guess which speed he is going to throw it. So is God, He is teaching us how to take the obvious in the talents He has given us and then taking it further. And only He knows how. Through our observation of the results that come out of God's leadership in our life, we gradually choose in our free will to follow. Without God's leadership and encouragement we would never become what He created us for. Praise the Lord !!!
When we get turned upside down or even if it's just the confusion of not knowing what's going on in our life, we can be rest assured that God has a grip on us that can't be pulled apart, even by ourself. We can rest and have confidence in any of those situations, that God will get us through. I find myself admiring who God is when those things are going on in my life. I get excited watching how He works us through those things. It never seems to work out like I thought they would. In fact, I stand in literal amazement how God does things. I will repeat myself. When God allows us to see Him moving through these things, our thoughts will rapidly become excited seeing God work. Simply said, instead of our emotions running wild with us at what bad thing might happen or could happen, we will become excited about what great work God is getting ready to show us.
Thanks for bringing these words. We know that the Holy Spirit will say what needs to be said.
Your loving brother,