It seems that simple may be the hardest discipline for my countrymen. As we control and command the Earth we argue about the God and His Sovereign Right to make the rules and judge the Creation He made from His own imagination. We laud our moments of freedom to express our own unique character and the pride of rebellion against His Sovereign Authority when each facet of our freedom, breath and expression is governed by His gifting. Then we argue amongst ourselves and everyone else we can find who thinks differently that our self erected rules, regulation and platforms are somehow the central authority on a God we barely know, recognize or acknowledge. No wonder those express tentative acceptance fear the teeth beneath the calmness of the stream.

Nowadays, we have erected a mist and haze that blends the hues and views of creation into incomprehensible amalgam of human will and fulfillment. We have made ourselves the center of God’s Story, rewriting into some two hundred present versions of the same words to carefully comply with every perspective but God’s. We stroke each other’s shoulder not seeking true compassion or consolation but seeking to control the dollars and dimes in buckets and baskets given perhaps joyously to God but to be used in the sweaty aspiration of a group of would be “tax free” investment professionals. What is wrong with this picture well everything for starters and it just gets worse the deeper one journeys.

We have lost the entry fee of humility to God’s Throne Room. We don’t repent but instruct God on why our sins differ from those who hates and convince those around us that this person they see for an hour on the weekends is real not waxen, feigned and contrived. We want the benefits of being close to God but reduce that relationship to the lesser or remaining moments of Consciousness at the end of each day. Claiming God as our First Love but giving him less time than our animals, our Boss and our golf or drinking cartel. And the true rub is that we are even unconscious in this failure as if we were standing truly before God in prayer we would immediately feel compunction to get prostrate in an instant before a Holy and Righteous God.

How gross our rebellion against simplicity and grace. We were suffering a sin debt whose wages were death that we were offered a one time freedom in the belief upon Christ Jesus then we immediately return to the same or similar sins somehow immediately forgetting the impossibility of self escape that we somehow miraculously circumvented by God’s Sovereign offer of Loving Care. Now we live lives again consistent with our own plans, will and collections teaching everyone around us to follow suit through our ardent example to do as we please, how we want and when we feel like it. All the time ignoring the warning of a Chrystal clear Gospel telling us not to once consider our previous pursuits. How simple does it have to get? How clearly spelled out must it be for us to gather understanding?

We harass a President for not being the appropriate Christian, yet he is the only one wise enough, humble enough and willing to express his belief in God’s Majesty to read a prayer that the richest King of History who stood in the appearance of God telling him that if he failed to believe upon that prayer, repent and healing would occur. What must people do to please our constructed expectations? Our families are good enough so we escape or punish them with our standards and opinions to the point where no one wants to know anyone, nor spend time to learn anything about them. Nevermind construct a functional family operating under collective interest and mutual respect designed to honor God for the gift of any family whatsoever. Then we find someone who will claim that they want to believe and chase them away with a complex social set of regulations designed to make the good members of our self constructed faith. No wonder the body is powerless and the faithful fickle.

This is the time for Godly catalyst. The times ahead of us with be filled with heavenly pressure to the point well beyond our imagination and capacity to resolve or withstand. Yet, we make little preparation instead expending our all energy, imagination and treasure to return things to a time that meet our own expectations and desire. How complex must we make this before simplicity shakes us free from the fruit tree in whose branches we precariously slumber? We are about to meet the Simplicity of God’s Plan. We may be prepared, fearless and humble in our meeting or we may walk into the throne room to be separated from those who understand and fear the Sovereign God. Those having faced environment where we made none of the rules or who feared God from outset won’t need to be rebuked in the presence of God to act right. It will be simple. I will be on my face, praying, thankful and hopeful that His furious and fiery gaze never traces my silhouette but instead greets me in welcome, smile and commendation for work well done. In Jesus’ Name.