March 21

“I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Genesis 32:30

God uses his light to expose to us our true situation. This is what brings us to our knees. As he did with Jacob at Peniel, God in mercy must bring us there, where we see what is the true spring and motive of our life. For remember, God is dealing with what we really are by nature. There, in the light of God, we must be as we are; we cannot pretend. Pretense is not Christianity. We may very much want to be different, but what we are by nature, we are. Nothing hinders God more than pretending it is otherwise.

The more “humble” some people are, the more one wishes they would show a little pride, because that would give God a chance to get on with the work. For it is never our pretense, but only God’s touch that brings about transformation. If the work is to be done by me, it will get me nowhere. From being “natural” I shall merely become unnatural. But if the work is God’s work, the changes wrought by him have a definite purpose and direction. He starts with a Jacob and ends with an Israel.