Russell A. Cardwell Online

The C. S. Lewis novel I’m reading, That Hideous Strength, has this statement: “Every conscious being is either obeying God, or else is disobeying God.”

I’ve never looked at it in such black-and-white terms before. I’ve always thought of most things as being neutral. Sometimes I’m doing God’s will, sometimes I’m disobeying God’s will, but most of the stuff I’m doing has nothing to do with God’s will—just neutral activities. But I think he’s right about this—that all the neutral stuff can really be divided into obedience or disobedience of God. So how would that affect your life? What if about every action, not just the tough choices, you asked, “Is this what God wants me to do right now?” I hesitate even to try something like that.

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A rabbi asked his students, “When is it at dawn that one can tell the light from the darkness?”

One student replied, “When I can tell a goat from a donkey.”

“No,” answered the rabbi.

Another said, “When I can tell a palm tree from a fig.”

“No,” answered the rabbi again.

“Well, then what is the answer?” his students pressed him.

“Only when you look into the face of every man and every woman and see your brother and your sister,” said the rabbi. “Only then have you seen the light. All else is still darkness.”

     —Unknown

• Never Doubt in the Darkness
• Candleglow Darkness
• Blessed?
• What is to Give Light. . .
• Sin

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

—John Wesley

• No Rules
• Negative99 » Christian versus Christ-follower
• The Christian Ideal
• Who Are You Living For?
• Tether-Ball

One of the characters in the C.S. Lewis novel I’ve been reading, Perelandra, said that God withholds a good from us only to offer us a greater good instead.

I wish I could have such simple assurance when my plans go awry.

• But One Thing is Needful
• If You Can’t Worship While You’re Doing It . . .
• The Gate Before; the Gate Behind
• Anselm or Finney?
• Harlots and Idols Over Coffee

Maybe God can forgive once and be done,
but I have to forgive over and again.

Forgiveness is a garden
that must be watered every day.
Sometimes, you have to pull the weeds
that spring up to strangle it.

Self-righteousness, jealousy, envy, resentment—
these weeds grow fast and hardy.
Love and patience grow ever so slow,
and need nurture every day.

• Only a Small Miracle
• Satanic Attack

After complaining on Monday about God’s reticence, I awoke to find this scripture from the Upper Room in my email:

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

–Psalm 130:5-6

And the devotional for the day was about waiting patiently for God to speak.

At work, during my break, when I opened my Bible-in-a-Year, the day’s reading gave me this:

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

–1 Kings 19:11-13

Not exactly subtle, is He?

Maybe I think I have to be waylaid by God for it to count. For Paul, only a severe mauling would have gotten his attention. Perhaps I should have more respect for the small promptings of the Spirit, and the little “God-moments” that almost unnoticeably change my course.

• Lord, Where Is Your Smile?
• Let God Sort ‘Em Out
• The Lord is My Global Positioning System
• If You Can’t Worship While You’re Doing It . . .
• Delight Yourself