Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His
Highest – Saturday, 23 November 2013 “ Distraction of
Antipathy”
Have mercy upon us, 0 Lord, have mercy
upon us: for we are exceedingly piled with contempt.(Psalm 123:3)
The thing of which we have to beware is
not so much damage to our belief in God as damage to our Christian temper.
"Therefore take heed to thy spirit, that ye deal not treacherously."
The temper of mind is tremendous in its effects, it is the enemy that
penetrates right into the soul and distracts the mind from God. There are certain
tempers of mind in which we never dare indulge; if we do, we find they have
distracted us from faith in God, and until we get back to the quiet mood before
God, our faith in Him is nil, and our confidence in the flesh and in human
ingenuity is the thing that rules.
Beware of "the cares of this
world," because they are the things that produce a wrong temper of soul.
It is extraordinary what an enormous power there is in simple things to
distract our attention from God. Refuse to be swamped with the cares of this
life.
Another thing that distracts us is the
lust of vindication. St. Augustine prayed – "O Lord, deliver me from this
lust of always vindicating myself." That temper of mind destroys the
soul’s faith in God. "I must explain myself; I must get people to understand."
Our Lord never explained anything; He left mistakes to correct themselves.
When we discern that people are not going
on spiritually and allow the discernment to turn to criticism, we block our way
to God. God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that
we may intercede.
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