Briers In The Snow And The Will Of God

The Christian life is a peculiar thing isn’t it? Jesus offers us joy, yet promises that we will face trials and tribulations. He bids us to follow Him then warns that it will be hard to do so; that it will cost us everything. Not only do we declare war on the prince of this world, who Peter likens to a roaring, voracious, devouring lion (1 Peter 5:8), but we are now at odds with the world in which we live. External conflict in every direction. Even further, the conflict becomes internal too as we wage war on ourselves, our own ‘flesh’. Yet somehow people mistakenly equate Christianity to some sort of self help program.

Have you ever heard Tony Robbins or Oprah Winfrey say that the best way to help yourself is to go to war? I suspect not.

One of the stunning truths of the Gospel – the good news of Jesus’ incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension – is that Jesus came to cancel the penalty of sin. Those who put their faith in Jesus need have no fear of death. Yet before that moment when we stand face to face with Jesus – free of all condemnation, with an eternity to continually discover the eternal depths of the beauty and glory of God – before we can enjoy ‘sinlessness’ forever, we have to suffer its consequences and fight its control in our lives. Not only did Christ come to cancel sin, He gave us everything we need to conquer the sin that enslaves us.

Isaiah prophesied to God’s people who would later find themselves in captivity to the Babylonians. He spoke of a time when God would release His chosen people from slavery and return to their own land. Read with me, if you will, a few verses from Isaiah chapter 55.

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10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and
bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”

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God’s word did indeed accomplish His desire when the Persian king Cyrus released the Israelites from Babylonian captivity and allowed them to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But this passage has spiritual applications for Christians today as well.

Isaiah employs a word picture of rain and snow which come down from heaven to water the earth. Here’s where it gets strange though. When the thorn bush gets watered, up springs a juniper. When the briers glisten with snow, you would expect those briers to grow larger and stronger, but what happens? A myrtle replaces it. What is Isaiah doing with this picture?
There is lots we could say but for brevities sake, I’ll paraphrase verse 11. God says ‘when I speak my will is accomplished’. We see it in Genesis when God speaks everything into creation, for instance.
The will of God is a massive (and complex) subject which is also deeply personal. What does God want me to do? What is God’s will for my life? How can I live in a way that will please God? Let me point you to one verse, which can answer all of those questions and I like the way the Amplified Version puts this:
“For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified [separated and set apart from sin]” (1 Thess 4:3)

What is the will of God? That we be set apart from sin, or to use an oft repeated command “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (6 times in Leviticus, cf., 1 Peter 1:15-16).
Back to our word picture; thorns and briers were a consequence of the fall (Gen 3:18), they represent the sinful nature which causes pain and vexation. In contrast, when God sent the waters from heaven, what grew in the place of those thistles were beautiful, fragrant, fruitful and useful trees.
As we are nourished by the word of God, his sanctifying work takes effect. The primary purpose of the word of God is to bring about the transformation of our hearts and with a transformed heart comes a transformed life.
As Paul Tripp helpfully says “when the word of God is brought to you by the Spirit of God, propelled by the grace of God, the result should be heart and life transformation”.

How can we conquer the sin that enslaves us? How can we find victory in our war for holiness? How can we live a life that is good and pleasing to God? How can we ‘go out in joy and be led forth in peace’ in the midst of the burdens and concerns of life?

We all carry within us the artifacts of sin, we all need the power of transforming grace. We desperately need the word of God in our lives every day. Oh that we would soak in it, that our lives would bud and flourish! That all of our God given potential could be met as the roots of our sin are ripped out.
Be warned, the enemy will do everything he can to distract, dishearten and make us feel guilty because he wants us to be stuck in our old fallen ways, ineffective and with dull hearts.

But Christ came not just to free you from the consequences of sin, but also from the control of sin. God wants you to know true freedom and the joy that comes with living in the beauty of holiness. If you spend time in His transforming word, His promise is that it will accomplish what He desires and there is no better place to be than in the safe arms and the loving will of your infinitely glorious Father who gave His only Son for you.