The Outside Pull

We as Christians must be ever on gaurd against those things that would try to pull us out of our abiding in Christ. Circumstances can pull and tug on us and bring us to a point of introspection that we never thought existed. As saints, we must be careful of too deep an introspection lest we, in our introspection, consider ourselves and our circumstances without Christ. The moment we start to calculate things without the promises or presence of God, we move out of Christ consciousness and into self consciousness. We must keep in mind that the high aim of God is to make us one with His Son- to have every aspect of our conscious life brought into union with Him. This is the goal of sanctification and the true sense of reality for the saint. God will bring about circumstances in our lives to show us where we are not living in spiritual reality. Instead, what we will find is that circumstances will show us how self conscious we really are in places that we though we were spiritual. God does this so that we can bring these things into the reality of abiding with Him so that the consciousness of self will dissipate and the only thing we know is abiding in Christ. If you are in circumstances where you find yourself restless, it may be because you are considering your circumstances outside Christ. Let yourself find rest in the promises and presence of God- then the peace will come- the peace that can only come by abiding in Christ. This is God's goal for you in the crisis- oneness. Oneness with Christ and abiding with Him.