The Net

Imagine the following picture:

A ladder rests in space somewhere of its own accord and you are climbing it. At the top of the ladder, wherever it is, is Heaven, or better yet sanctification. You have struggled up this ladder for many years, making progress a few rungs at a time, then losing foot, even slipping sometimes. The process is wearying but the idea of being holy is enticing and you fight on, asking God to give you a push every now and then. When the going is really tough you ask God to help you reach nearly every next step. You're sure he will help you and one day you'll come to holiness.

Some of us may relate the above imagery to our spiritual lives. I present here a problem with this idea of sanctification: God is not at any time the focus. At best he was a momentary support. The writer C.S. Lewis made an analogy of this concept in his book The Problem of Pain writing, "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it." Similarly, we hope not to fall from our ladder, thus when we even start to slip we call on God to save us.

There is a logical problem with only relying on God some of the time. God is absolute; he is either always capable of saving us, or never capable. If he were never able to save us then we would not call on him even if we fall off the ladder; in fact, we might as well not climb at all. However, if God is always capable of saving us, then we can also derive from who God is that he is better able to do so than we.

Then if God can save us all the time, we struggle in vain to climb the ladder on our own. Even when we call on God we only accept a minute piece of his power for us. In order to fully be embraced by God, we must first let go of our ladder. We shall instantly find that all the while we fought to reach the top, God was the net underneath waiting for us to fall completely. He waited patiently for the time when we would realize that we were not sufficient to reach the top of our own accord. God saved us at every slip to demonstrate his true location; that he was present in surrender and failure, not at the climax of our own success. And yet we foolishly thought his salvation was proof that we were to continue striving on.

It is necessary to our spiritual growth that we realize that God is not at the end of our success, but rather at the bottom of our surrender. In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers explains that "When we come to the end of ourselves, not just mentally but completely, we are able to 'receive the Holy Spirit'...There is now only One who directs the course of your life, the Lord Jesus Christ." We must accept that when we surrender God will catch us, hold us, and make us all we need be. Sanctification is not the goal we set at the top of our ladders, but the process of being made holy by surrendering to the only One who knows what holy is. Pride and self-sufficiency will only hinder and delay the process. Don't be afraid, let God be your net.

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime - until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." - Isaiah 46:4