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(I corrected several path problems on August 29, August 30, and September 1, including these selections: Which  Version?, Christmas, Images, Body of Christ Discovered, Hymn Midis, KJV Bible, and Spiritual Warfare.  Sorry for any problems; please let know if you find others. - Gary)

I Accept

And he went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:39

Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Philippians 4:11

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherewith he has made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6

From the days of my childhood, I had in mind to do one of two things, maybe both, after I reached adulthood. I wanted to be either a preacher or a history teacher. History books of any kind or description took up much of my time at home, and if I made much less than 100 on a history test it was a major disappointment. At the same time, even before I was saved, which happened two days before I turned age 13, I was equally fascinated by the Bible. Before I went to school, I can remember thinking about being a preacher one day. Both of those dreams ended for me before I turned 30. It took me years to accept the fact, to surrender my childhood goals. As late as 1990 I considered going back to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in history. The idea of being in some kind of ministry has never left me, though I no longer think seriously about being the pastor of a church.

Our Lord also faced the prospect of giving up something he had worked toward all of his life, but something far more important than a career. Even as he prayed that the Father would take him out of what faced him, though, he surrendered himself to it. If he hadn't accepted the burden of the cross, the burden of our sins, none of us would be where we are now -- in Christ. Similarly, Paul accepted whatever life brought his way, good or bad, because he already had all that he really needed, the assurance of salvation. Toward the end of his life, he expressed both to Timothy and the church at Philippi his willingness to accept death itself. (Philippians 1:20-24, 2 Timothy 4:6-8)

Psychologists tell us that acceptance is a natural part, and the ultimate goal, of the grieving process. Whether we're grieving over the death of someone we love, or a divorce, or the prospect of our own death, we really can't function normally until we accept what has happened, or what is going to happen. People who get stuck at some earlier stage of recovery, like anger or despair, often develop, or already have, serious mental and physical problems. It's like refusing to let go of a rope even though the person on the other end has already turned loose. One of the most heart-wrenching things to watch and hear after September 11 was the parade of people clinging desperately to the hope that someone they had lost was still alive somewhere. Even the rescuers could hardly accept the idea that no one was alive under the mountain of rubble as they toiled on day after day, hoping for some sign of life.

For a nonbeliever, accepting life's tragedies, especially death, is a matter of resignation, not hope. What hope lies ahead for someone who sees nothing beyond the grave but extinction? Yes, it's possible to go on living after a wife or husband or child has died, but how much more joyous the certainty that, if they're Christians, we'll see them again soon? I've been a Christian most of my life, but there have been times, some very recent, when I all but lost hope for the future. I can't even conceive of going through an entire lifetime with the only hope resting in what we can do and get, in the few short years of our existence. Even worse than no hope, if that's possible, is false hope. The hope of the Islamic terrorists rests in lies conceived in Hell, and promoted by madmen. The hope of cults like Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses lies in perversions of the Scriptures, attempts by human beings to construct a gospel more convenient and pleasing than the demands of faith in Christ.

Over and over again in my life I've come to a point of having to accept what God has sent my way, or allowed to come my way, or of giving up on him altogether. Until I reach that point of saying, "I accept whatever you want me to do," and "I accept your time and your place and your way," my life is miserable. I can't pray, I can't feed on the Word, and I can't enjoy the fellowship of other believers. Is the Lord asking something of you? Is he pressing you for a decision you don't want to make? Is he asking you to accept a situation you just can't live with? Until we surrender our will to his, we can never know the real joy of the Lord. We are accepted, Paul says, in the beloved. Until we accept what he gives us, we're not truly his.

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