October 5 - 2 Timothy 4: On God's Altar

I'm about to die, my life an offering on God's altar. (4:6 Msg) 

I am already being poured out as a drink offering... (4:6 ESV)

"Here's Paul, chained in a desolate, hard-to-find Roman dungeon [1:16-17] after years of beatings, imprisonments, hateful opposition, vicious slander, at least one shipwreck, days without food or drink, clothed in rags, feelings of unbearable pressure, and many sleepless nights [1 Corinthians 4:11-13, 2 Corinthians 1:8-10; 6:3-5]. And now he's waiting to be murdered by Rome for the crime of telling people [God's] story." 66 LL

Paul's perspective in the midst of his wretched circumstances is amazing. He knows he's about to die, yet he sees everything he's been through as an offering to the Lord.

I often struggle to remember that truth. I resist being a living sacrifice, and my flesh clamors for more control. I like the idea of surrendering everything to Jesus far more than the reality of my emotions as the Lord asks me to surrender more areas of my life to Him.

Honestly, I'm in a season of serious wrestling with the Lord, scared to face the hurt and sadness I've buried for a long time. Yet, He's asking me to trust Him with it and to be willing to offer it all up to Him.

"Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will... 

"You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents - burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose - the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don't eliminate it, God does...After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life? 

"Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

I'm asking God to give me the faith to believe Him for this incredibly difficult undertaking. I'm asking Him to give me the desire and the courage, like Paul, to be an offering on God's altar.

But you - keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant. (4:5)