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The waters are troubled. A deep, quiet bubbling…churning…boiling…in
the secret places of my heart is the cause of an ache that is yearning
to be soothed. There are questions longing for answers, my spirit’s
burden longing to be lifted. I struggle to hear His voice, to know with certainty that His will is as I believe it to be. Only by grace could I obey this voice, just as it is by grace that I think I am hearing…
I recently read several reviews of a book, (here and here),
perusing them without a blip on my radar. The time had not yet come,
apparently. After an experiment this December with an
uncharacteristic-for-us frantic schedule, I was drained. Road weary and
battle-scarred, I felt as if our spirits had been assaulted through the
constant running…going…hurrying. While we were yet
sinners, he died for us…and while we were yet striving He spoke to us.
In the midst of the commotion, an acquaintance loaned us the same book.
It’s time had come…and I was ready.
Only
one other book, Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss, has ever
affected me even remotely as profoundly. (You mean, it is normal to not be perfect overnight, and that sanctification is a process?) My reading of Henry and the Great Society
left me alternating between weeping violently, worshipping
passionately, but more often a chorus of both. Confirmation to me of
how well my Father knows me and the deepest cries of my heart, I was
relieved, oh, so relieved…so delivered from a burden
that I had been carrying. One that I had been carrying for so long that
my only notice of it was a whispered doubt that, “This is not the way
God meant for me to live”.
Henry is a normal guy with whom we journey into his entrance and entrapment in the “Great Society”. Based
on 1Timothy 6:6-21, his story is woven to show us that the
subtle-but-sure lies of Satan in the Garden are still at work to
destroy us. The book assumes that most of those who read the message
will not “get it” (without eyes to see), and of those that do, most
will change nothing (hearers but not doers), so don’t be alarmed if you
come away wondering what all they hype is about. Mr. Visionary had me
order a case of them to pass out, and I am expecting to get that
reaction almost exclusively. But for that one…or two…the exceptions…it
could be life-changing.
If you are intrigued, you may order Henry and the Great Society from Cumberland Books.
After you read the story of Henry, go back and study the chapters that
follow ~ and have your Bible handy. No matter your opinion of the
author’s brief mention of the Rapture, the rest is gold, and much food
for thought. And prayer. Gut-wrenching prayer.
Now I am convinced that the nagging fear that I
was the problem (this is not intended to discount my sin nature), that
my failures to function ‘just like everyone else’ was false. My years
spent trying to find ways to make it work are over. By His grace, I
know that the system itself is flawed. And I for one ~ am getting out.
I don’t yet know how…or what this will look like fleshed out, but by His grace, I and mine are getting out of the rat race…
Show me what it looks like, Lord.
Note: An MP3 version of the first few chapters can be heard here.
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