Painful Compromise

Song of Songs 2:16-17

My lover is mine and I am His; He browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

Now sincere love is expressed. The Bride declares that she belongs only to Jesus. She is proclaiming with confidence that she has not lost her place in the heart of God. She knows that Jesus is still hers, and that she belongs to Him. She is not just loved and cherished by Christ, but she belongs solely to Him and no other.

This is the reality that she is truly starting to accept. She is allowing herself to take her place as the Bride of Christ and profess that she is His. She is a lover of God, and God loves her even in her weaknesses. She is committed and sincere even if she is not yet fully victorious or mature.

However, despite her beginning to understand this truth, she still chooses not to follow Him over the mountains. She bids Him to go on without her. She is refusing to obey Him, not because she is rebellious or because she is a hopeless hypocrite, but because she is spiritually immature.

It is dark until the day breaks and brings new light. The time when day breaks is the time when light or maturity becomes present. She is telling Him that she wants His help to conquer these areas in her heart so she can go on to the mountains with Him. She doesn't want to go to the mountains until the light of day comes and shadows, or the gray areas, are gone.

She is telling Him that she still has unbelief in her heart, but she wants His light to come and take it away. She says, "God, unless there is more light and I am more mature, you are going to have to turn and go on without me. I cannot rise until the shadows have fled."

This happens to many Christians during their spiritual journey. They decline when Christ asks them to partner with Him, and because of this, they feel as if they are hopeless hypocrites. They doubt their sincerity towards Christ, and they wonder if they even love Him the way that they thought they did. Then they begin to run away from the things of God instead of toward the things of God.

This is what Satan wants the beloved to do. He wants her mistakes to conquer her instead of causing her to run to God for help. Mistakes do not disqualify your from being with Christ; they qualify you to run to Christ. This does not mean you should try to sin and make mistakes, but it does mean that even if you slip and fall in a time of weakness, you should get right back up and run back to the love of Christ.

Ask Christ to shine the light of His countenance down upon your life so the shadows of fear and doubt would flee and the gray areas of immaturity would become as light. Ask Him to give you grace that allows you to run to Him in times of struggle.

Prayer:

Sweet Jesus, I thank You that I belong wholly to You. Even in my times of difficulty, You accept me as I am. Come and shine the light of Your beauty down upon my life that all my sins would flee away. Give me the grace I need to follow You in times of struggle, for You are mine and I am Yours.

(from Forerunner Meditations Volume 1)

A follow up and a song can be found @ The Bridegroom's Manifest Presence is Withdrawn