(The Exercise of Sonship and the Settled Wisdom of God)

August 2nd reminds the believer that spiritual strength is not given independently of the circumstances that require its exercise. The Father develops strength as the spirit of sonship responds to him in the midst of resistance. Trials therefore become occasions for the life of the Son to be manifested. Behind every such experience stands the settled wisdom of the Father, whose redemptive purpose is neither uncertain nor improvised. We overcome in the present because we trust the purpose of the One who governs the whole.

Strength Is Developed Through Overcoming

Chambers writes:

“God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength.” (My Utmost for His Highest)

Chambers reminds us that the Father does not ordinarily develop spiritual strength by removing every resistance.

He develops it through response.

The strain matters.

Difficulty exposes whether we will depend upon ourselves or remain responsive to the Father.

Patience develops where impatience is possible.

Faith develops where circumstances provide reasons to doubt.

Endurance develops where giving up would be easier.

Obedience develops where another path appears more desirable.

The believer therefore does not receive an abstract quality called “overcoming life” that eliminates the struggle.

Life is manifested in the overcoming.

The spirit of sonship becomes strong through exercise as the believer repeatedly chooses the Father’s will over the demands of the flesh.

This pattern was perfectly revealed in Jesus.

His filial obedience was manifested under actual pressure.

Temptation did not create his relationship with the Father, but it provided the circumstances in which the faithfulness of that relationship became visible.

So it is with the believer.

The Father uses resistance to bring into expression the life he has already brought forth.

The Father Has a Settled Purpose

Spurgeon writes:

“Our belief in God’s wisdom supposes and necessitates that he has a settled purpose and plan in the work of salvation.” (Morning and Evening)

Spurgeon directs our attention from the immediate struggle to the Father’s larger purpose.

God is not improvising redemption.

He is not reacting anxiously to circumstances as they arise.

His wisdom implies purpose.

His sovereignty implies direction.

His faithfulness assures completion.

This gives the believer profound stability.

The strain of today’s circumstances may be difficult to understand when viewed by itself.

But today’s struggle does not exist by itself.

It belongs within the Father’s greater redemptive purpose.

The believer therefore learns to interpret individual experiences through confidence in the wisdom of God.

We may not understand the immediate circumstance.

We can trust the Father who governs it.

We may not see how the present strain contributes to his purpose.

We can remain obedient within it.

Faith does not require complete knowledge of the plan.

It requires confidence in the One whose wisdom established it.

Where the Two Meet: Present Overcoming Within the Father’s Settled Purpose

These truths belong together beautifully.

Chambers shows us the believer overcoming within the immediate strain of life.

Spurgeon lifts our eyes toward the Father’s settled purpose behind the whole work of redemption.

One truth concerns the present exercise of faith.

The other concerns the eternal wisdom in which that faith rests.

Together they protect us from interpreting trials as meaningless interruptions.

The strain is real.

But so is the purpose.

The resistance is real.

But so is the Father’s provision.

The believer does not overcome in order to persuade God to complete his purpose.

He overcomes because he belongs to the purpose God has already established in the Son.

As the Holy Spirit bears witness with the human spirit, the spirit of sonship learns to meet present resistance with confidence in the Father’s wisdom.

Thus adversity becomes an arena in which the life of Jesus is manifested.

Pastoral Orientation

August 2nd calls for active obedience and settled confidence.

Do not ask the Father merely to remove every strain that confronts you.

Allow the difficulty to become an occasion for the life of the Son to be manifested through faithful obedience.

Do not interpret the Father’s purpose through the uncertainty of present circumstances.

Interpret present circumstances through confidence in the Father’s settled wisdom.

As you continue walking “after the spirit,” you will find that resistance becomes the exercise through which spiritual strength develops, while confidence in the Father’s purpose gives stability to every act of obedience.

Meet the strain through faithful response.

Rest in the Father’s settled purpose.

And you will discover a life that grows stronger through overcoming, remains steadfast under pressure, rests confidently
in the Father’s wisdom, and manifests the life of the Son through exercised faith, willing obedience, and continual communion, to the glory of the Father.