Never

I must keep it short today. Honestly, I should probably be studying, but I just absolutely had to post a little something (we'll see how short I'll be able to keep it).

Also, as an introduction of sorts, a few weeks ago Hannah was telling me about a conversation with a friend of hers regarding the word never. The conversation was cautioning the use of the word never because as soon as you say never, you find that thing on your doorstep.

Like always, I commented on this conversation by playing devil's advocate, showing how saying never doesn't always imply it will happen.

And now I eat my words.

Wouldn't you know it, the one thing that is on my heart the most is the fact that the Lord loves people who say never (stick with me...). Just think about it. The apostle Paul was the never sort of person. He was the chief anti-Christian of his time, and he certainly would never go about preaching Jesus Christ crucified, let alone tolerate others who did so. He went from town to town arresting Christians and throwing them in prison, or at least he did until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

And then the man who never had any inclination of letting the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ spread became one of the most influential missionaries ever! And it started with a heart that said never.

Why would I be inclined to think that the Lord likes the heart that says never? Because when the Lord gets a hold of that heart, it becomes a heart wholly devoted to him.

Even Peter was the never sort of person. He swore that he would never desert the Lord Jesus, but he ended up denying that he even knew Jesus three times, just as the Lord said. After that, he went away broken, weeping bitterly. His never sort of heart that prided itself in his own dedication to the Lord was revealed, and this man who denied the Lord Jesus became the apostle used to establish the church.

After that, day in and day out, Peter and the other apostles went about preaching the scriptures and proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, this too from a man who said never.

And I find even now how in the past I thought I could never be free of this. Or how I could never be bold enough to do that. Or how I could never become the man I should be... the list could go on. But wouldn't you know, the Lord can bust through any kind of never and show how strong and faithful He is in any situation.

He has done so in my life, and keeps doing it. I find I've adamantly proclaimed that I'll never go back to a place again, or that I could never do this or that. But when the Lord gets hold of such a heart and sends them there, the will of self has to die in order to bend to the will of the Father. Then it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me, and that's where I want to be.

So I don't think I mind people saying never. They just might find themselves face to face with the Lord Jesus, and find out how strong and faithful the Lord is in any situation.

Well, back to studying I go! I never thought I could finish a math major, but the Lord is seeing me through it. I will finish what I started.