Divine Explosion
Por Roberto Ewing.
Two extremes are seen in psychological longings: one extreme is when a longing becomes a mania, locking you inside a cage; The other extreme is when the desires dry up and the impulse dies. However, when the longings of the soul are spiritually motivated, they become divine explosives.
The same thing happens in student life. The Christian student, like any other, is confronted with an alternative in daily life. When Christ spoke to the Samaritan woman, the Lord rose above this dilemma, because with God there is another alternative.
She thought Christ would treat her like a man would treat a woman, a Jew would treat a Samaritan woman, one of the Jewish religion would treat one of the Samaritan religion. In truth, he was not ashamed to be a man, a Jew, but if he had limited himself by her narrow categories, a wall would have risen between them.
This same principle is seen when Joshua confronted the man with the drawn sword: “Are you one of us, or our enemies? And he answered: No; but I´m a prince of the army of the Lord, now I have come.” Josh. 5:13.
Every student needs to lift up the power of the Holy Spirit, the heavenly dove of God, to identify not with the present frictions, but with the eternal cause. Very often in doing this, one finds that God is big enough to understand the true facts on both sides of the human barriers.
The highest desire of man that drives him forward is that of “worship”, found in the human spirit. Someone, having observed the psychiatrist, remarked: The tragedy of modern psychology is that it has ignored the human spirit, thereby eliminating man's basic responsibility to God.
Without this foundation, the other longings cannot be perpetuated on a normal basis without suffering final deterioration. Of course man has physical instincts: hunger, thirst, sex, and one characteristic of this age, Christ said, would be that it would resemble the times of Noah, and Sodom and Gomorrah, where the physical instincts overshadowed all the others. desires, particularly the spiritual.
What are the longings of the soul? The desire for preservation (which is the desire for daily sustenance); the desire for self-expression; that of security; that of loyalty; that of power; that of curiosity of knowledge through experience, reason and revelation; and finally that of acceptance.
These remain the same in each generation, although the backgrounds differ. For example: Yesterday's major questions concerning evolution, the authenticity of Scripture, and science versus religion are still important, but somehow the shift has come to focus more on social action, pollution, and the destiny of man than about his origin.
Of course, they vary in different areas that have been affected or not by modern materialism, however, there is a sincere search for spiritual reality. God is big enough to stand above every passing emphasis, and can simultaneously respond to the depth of the soul's desire. How does God relate to the need for these longings of the soul? If the Lord has created them, he surely has the answer for each one. God has made them potential kegs of gunpowder, of divine explosives, in a good way. While man's explosives destroy, God's power builds for eternity. The human explosion destroys, while the other blesses. Notice in the gospel of John how each “I am” of Christ supplies the relationship for every longing of the soul.
1. “I am the bread of life.” Jn. 6:35. “Give us today our daily bread” means, as the dictionary also defines, “daily sustenance.” Students who do not know where next semester's tuition will come from, because daily existence is a struggle, need to trust in God's promises, and allow the Lord to work in this area. When Satan rules our desire for self-preservation, what results is the cancer of greed.
2. "I am the light of the world". Jn. 8:12; 9:5. The longing for expression is not bad if we allow Christ within us to be the one to express Himself. His presence through us will light the way for confused and troubled humanity.
3. “I am the door of the sheep.” Jn. 10:7. The ancient shepherd closed the sheepfold door at night for the safety of the sheep from danger. Are you in danger? Anchor your longing in Christ. Allow Him to be your door.
4. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jn. 10:11. The soul's strong urge for loyalty to the true identity can be focused on him.
5. “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jn. 11:25. Christ proved his power by resurrecting Lazarus who had been dead and buried for four days.
6. "I'm the way, the truth and the life; No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jn. 14:6.
a. The Lord was able to say “I am the way” to heaven on the basis of “it is finished.” Through this achievement on his part, we know him as the eternal Savior. Also as we engage in performing certain tasks, we gain knowledge in their fulfillment.
b. “I am the truth.” By gaining knowledge of His Truths, Christ is real to us.
c. We gain knowledge of Him as "Iam life,” by knowing Him through the adventures of life, for the Lord will manifest Himself. “But you will receive power from the Holy Spirit who will come upon you.” Acts. 1:8. The longings of the soul need to be ignited by the flame of the Spirit of God. Habits fall, like chains, and divine dynamics penetrate our words.
7. “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Jn. 15:5. The longing for acceptance replaces loneliness, when we abide in Christ and the fruit abounds.
A Christian is a disciple. Your walk of faith opens new perspectives as you find God guiding you on preordained paths and experience Christ as your “I am.” Paul cried out, “That I might know Him!” Later, when the apostle Paul and his team entered the city, the inhabitants shouted: “These who trouble the world have also come here.” The one who made you has given you desires that are like kegs of gunpowder inside you. Allow Him to ignite them with the fire of the Holy Spirit and they will become divine explosives for Christ.