Be thou exalted

 Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. — Ps 57:5

So today is more great wisdom from the wonderful A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God (Restoring the Creator-Creature Relation). Basically, this chapter (which you can read here), discusses the struggles we have in ultimately surrendering everything to the Lord and thus restoring out right relationship with Him. I think Tozer summarizes it really beautifully here:

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as

He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer

to our own image. The flesh whimpers against the rigor of God’s inexorable sentence and begs like

Agag for a little mercy, a little indulgence of its carnal ways. It is no use. We can get a right start only

by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is. As we go on to know Him better

we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just what He is. Some of the most rapturous

moments we know will be those we spend in reverent admiration of the Godhead. In those holy

moments the very thought of change in Him will be too painful to endure.

This process is something that is familiar, at least to me. When learning to surrender to the Lord/submit to God, I first try to bend the rules a bit. Maybe God didn't mean quite what He said? (Now really, Betsy?) I then reach a place where I feel like I can't do whatever the Lord is calling me to do, and ultimately only by trusting in the Lord despite my lack of understanding do I begin to see the gloriousness of who God is and of how I fit into His plan. One other phrase really stuck out at me:

The pursuit of God will embrace the labor of bringing our total personality into conformity to His. 

This one's a little tough for me to. Real talk: my first image when I read this was me being a bit of a Christian robot who could have no fun at all. How incongruous with the Lord's character! In thinking over my initial response, I was really challenged on my level of trust in the Lord over who He wants me ultimately to become. And the last good chunk I really liked:

In speaking thus I have one fear; it is that I may convince the mind before God can win the

heart. For this God-above-all position is one not easy to take. The mind may approve it while not

having the consent of the will to put it into effect. While the imagination races ahead to honor God,

the will may lag behind and the man never guess how divided his heart is. The whole man must

make the decision before the heart can know any real satisfaction. God wants us all, and He will not

rest till He gets us all. No part of the man will do.

All I can say is AMEN! to that statement. Tozer nails it right on the head: It's relatively easy for my mind to comprehend surrendering all to God, but it is much harder when it's actually placed in practice. I even wonder if we are truly learning submission to the Lord when our plans align with His, as we are not truly being called to surrender our own ways for the Lord's. And how blessed our we to have a God that wants all, not just part, of us!

Lastly, I want to leave you all with Tozer's prayer for the end of the chapter:

 O God, be thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art

glorified in my life.

Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and

alone in the midst of the earth.

Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses I

shall keep my vow made this day before Thee.

Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity

and my name be forgotten as a dream.

Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my

health and even my life itself. Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase, let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride

forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let

me hear the children cry to Thee, “Hosanna in the highest.”


(And apologies for the formatting difficulties; Apparently Blogger's not being my friend this morning!)