Drilling = Sanctification

This post is for Nick Langford. Nick loved analogies and typically came up with ones that made sense, but not always. Hopefully this one is not the latter.

Sanctification is like drilling a well.

Let that sink in. Sanctification is like drilling a well. If you did not realize it, I just compared the entire Christian life to drilling a hole in the ground. Sounds great, right?

For those that don’t know, I will explain the basics of drilling a well and then hopefully make some sense of how this is much like sanctification. Pictures might help.

To drill a well you need a bit, drill pipe and mud. The bit goes on the bottom and is bigger than the drill pipe. To drill, you rotate the bit and put weight on it with the drill pipe to make progress. The mud is constantly circulated down the drill pipe and then back to the surface between the drill pipe and the newly drilled hole. The mud is the most important part of the system. The mud helps get what you just drilled out of the way so that you can drill further down. If you do not get good circulation of the mud, then you are just leaving the cuttings (pieces of rock, clay, sand that you break up as you drill) in the hole. This is why the mud is the most important part of the process. If these cuttings bunch up above the bit, you can get ‘packed-off’ or ‘develop a boot’, which can cause you to get stuck and never complete the well. At the surface, you might never see the problem until it is too late. As long as you are receiving a good amount of cuttings at the surface, then you are making progress, cleaning out the hole and increasing your chances of finishing the well. If you are not getting a good amount of cuttings at the surface, then you are having issues down hole. It is very important to stop and address the problem or you might lose the hole completely. It is important to be patient while circulating and make sure the cuttings are being removed from the hole. It is just as important to take remedial action to fix any ‘boot’ or ‘pack-off’ that you may have developed, or you’ll never finish the well and get your pipe out.

Alright, that is enough of the oil-field chatter. How is this like sanctification, you might be asking. First, let’s define a few terms.

Justification – the moment or series of moments in which God transforms the heart of man to love God with everything; when the eyes are opened to see that God is the most Glorious being and worth the Christian’s life; the moment or series of moments of conversion; the applying of Jesus’ blood to the Christian to cover the sin; post-justification God sees Jesus’ perfect blood and not our sin-filled bodies; a position of right-standing before God

Sanctification – the rest of life post-justification for the Christian; the process of God removing sin from the Christian’s life; the process of God making the Christian more like Himself; 

At church tonight, we were talking about some stuff that made me ask some questions. Why is it so important to remove all the little sins/issues from our lives? This is going to be a long hard battle that will never end, what’s the point, because we’ll always have little issues and battles? Why do the little things matter? It’s an endless battle, why keep fighting?

I think the easy answer is that you keep removing the little sins/issues/struggles from your life, because over time they will build up and turn into something much bigger. This can be seen in the analogy. If you don’t remove the cuttings, then you’ll create a ‘pack-off’ or ‘boot’ which can be devastating or mean imminent failure. Such is life. If we allow Satan a small foothold, then He will slowly gain an even bigger foothold, and will eventually wreck our lives. Remember, the enemy is out to steal, kill and destroy, not just cause small frustrations. We must remove the little things because they stand in the way of us getting to the ultimate destination – drinking deep from the Living Water.

Patience in times of waiting is important. It is important to take time to clean out the hole or come out of the hole when it is necessary. Now, does the bit or pipe understand why they are suddenly not drilling anymore? No. They can’t see why they’re coming out of the hole and not drilling. But the driller surely knows what is best. If he allows the little things to remain, then they won’t ever get to where God wants them to go. God wants us to deal with the issues for our greater joy and His greatest glory. 

God is taking us somewhere that we cannot see. He has a purpose for our miseries, troubles and trials that we cannot see. He is taking us to a place which is the full, abundant life of drinking deep of the Living Water, and to get us there He must remove the junk in our lives. Also, along the way He is teaching us that He is all we need and is worth all the trouble and fight.

This analogy needs some working on, but it is getting there. There is much more there that I did not hit on. It makes sense to me because this is the stuff I deal with everyday, but it might not hit home with you. Any thoughts on how to make the analogy better or is it completely off? Let me know your thoughts or ideas.

Renegade Water-Well Driller

I wanted it to be so much more. I wanted to come away from the water-well drill training with a passion to go be a renegade water-well driller around the world. I wanted to be Superman with a cape on, but instead of a cape I would have a pipe wrench and a LS-300 drilling rig, and instead of saving the world I would bring clean water to those who desperately need it. I wanted to be a hero and a world-changer. I wanted to come home and quit my job to traverse the globe bringing water in Jesus’ name. I wanted so much more.

Now, don’t get me wrong and think that the training was not helpful or awesome. It was as much as I expected it to be and more. However, I come away from the training as a realist and not the complete idealist that I used to be. I did not come away with a desire to quit my job, but a desire to continue in my job. I did not come away thinking that I can save the world with water, but realizing that I am so unneeded and have very little to bring to the table. I wanted to come away thinking that the answer was just more drill trips, more volunteers, more rigs, or more organizations, but yet I came away thinking the exact opposite.

Water does not save people. Americans taking a week-long trip does not save people. Drilling rigs do not save people. More organizations do not save people. Jesus saves people.

My attitude going into this Living Water adventure was that we would drill these people a water-well and they would instantly have their eyes open to the truth that Jesus is The Living Water. Not likely, though surely possible. I thought that if we would just go on a trip and talk about Jesus that their hearts would be turned to the truth. Not necessarily. I wanted to believe that going would somehow cause God to act wondrously, because I took such sacrifice, as if we could control God with our actions. I wanted to believe that I was doing something extraordinary that deserved notoriety, honor and renown, but really my heart should be bent toward having God receive all of that. I wanted so much more.

This training was eye opening for me. Sure, I could see myself spending many years partnered with Living Water. Sure, I believe that God has gifted and skilled me to be good at this. Sure, I know that I have a deep desire to use this tool and find great joy in it. But I think I already knew that before I went to the drill camp. This training was eye opening, because I think I have begun to see that God does not need me in the least sense of the word. When He moves, He moves regardless of who is on board and who is in the way. I have begun to see that God does not need me, but rather allows me to walk in obedience. I have begun to see that my idealistic views of missions and spreading the Gospel might just be way off from the truth. I think this is the beginning of God shifting my understanding of reaching the nations.

I wanted to believe that I could save the world because of my great sacrifice, but have been convinced of the opposite. People don’t need more water, or cleaner water, or education, or hygiene, or more books, or more money. People need Jesus, and only He can open their hearts to Him. Only Jesus saves. Only Jesus is The Answer.

The Desert

In Job, after Job’s three friends rebuke him and tell him to lay down his pride, another younger man stands up and speaks. He was a man that understood who God was and who he was. Elihu says a lot of good things from chapter 32 to 37, but he speaks about how God speaks to man. This is what he says.

‘For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep fails on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride before man. Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.’  -Job 32:14-22

I realize that this is kind of obscure, but did you hear what Elihu said? He says that God speaks through dreams/visions and through our trials/pains. Both are meant to bring us to repentance and for us to learn about the character and nature of God through. Elihu goes on to say, ‘God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things that we cannot comprehend.’ This makes me feel safe, even when I don’t understand. This makes me quit questioning in the desert and trust that God wants me there for a time.

In Jonah, which to my understanding is a very poetic book with lots of rhyme and word-play in Hebrew, it references Jonah going down multiple times, aka going into the desert – that place in our lives that God uses to teach us that He is all we need.

‘Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD and went down to Joppa…But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship…So the men picked up Jonah hurled him into the sea…Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city…’

Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, although the LORD surely knew what Jonah was doing and was working it out for His Glory all along. God surely used ‘the desert’ in Jonah’s life. After the men on the boat threw Jonah in, the waters calmed immediately, ‘then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.’ Once God called Jonah the second time to go to Nineveh, Jonah responded in obedience, ‘and the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.’ Even Jonah while in ‘the desert’, aka the belly of the fish, knew that God was in control.

‘I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me, all Your waves and your billows past over me. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet You brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!’   -  Jonah 2:2-3,6,8-9

The desert is a terrible place that no sane person should desire, but I am beginning to see that God wants us in the desert so that He might teach us that He is all we need. The desert is a severe mercy, but mercy nonetheless.

Let us hold fast to the hope we profess even in the desert.

Deep idols

So I realize that is has been a couple of weeks since I last wrote anything. My plan initially was to write at least once a week based on the notion that God is surely teaching me something at least once a week. It has been harder recently to sit down and write. Partly it is because I am beginning to have more going on here in Midland with work, church, friends, etc. Mostly that is just an excuse though. Partly it is because my time in the Word has suffered due to my increased activities. This is also just an excuse and a lame one at that. I think the main reason I have not written is that I have not sought to hear what God is teaching and have blatantly clouded Him out with other stuff. Active disobedience, honestly.

I’m learning that I have many idols in my life that I worship before God. Now most of these are surface idols, but I am learning that I have some deeper idols that lie beneath the surface idols. Success at any cost. Approval of and pleasing others (even those I don’t know). These idols play themselves out in many different ways in my life, but I think that most of the things that I put before God come from these roots.

Stuff is just stuff. Money is just money. TV is just TV. Work is just work. People are just people. Approval is just approval. Success is just success. All of these things are not inherently good or evil in and of themselves. However, idolatry is taking these things and making them the object of our affection. Idolatry is taking these neutral things and putting them in a place of adoration and worship, which is a place that God deserves only. Idolatry is misusing the gifts of God and making them more important than the Giver. Idolatry is seeking creation and not Creator. Anything in life can be a crutch, idol or sin, because it can lead us away from knowing and walking with Jesus daily, which really means to give Him the place of adoration, worship and love that only He deserves. But in the same way, anything in life can push us closer to Jesus. I think that’s why God is ultimately after our heart and not our stuff, our sacrifice and our religious practices. For me, stuff has not been just stuff recently, but a hindrance to knowing God more.  I have become so self-sufficient that God’s presence is an additive and not a necessity. I have created a life that I can fully accomplish on my own and have no awareness of my need for Jesus daily.

I am just trying to be honest.

I am not really offering solutions to my issues, because Jesus has already done that on the cross.

I am praying that God would rid me and you of our deep idols.