‘Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.’ – Hosea 2:14
As I mentioned a few days ago, over the weekend I was reading a back-issue (May/June 2011) of Every Day With Jesus by Selwyn Hughes titled Close Encounters. The series of daily writings talks about the times God may lead us into a desert experience; two of those devotions follow…
Genesis 32:22-32
‘The man asked him, “What is your name?”‘ (v27)A reason why God may allure us into the desert is this: to properly position our ego. Now here we have to be careful, for many incorrect things are said about the ego by Christians. The ego is God-created and God-approved, and will function properly if it is surrendered to the Spirit. I am not in sympathy with those who say the ego is to be banished, cancelled or suppressed. When the ego is in its proper place – surrendered to Christ – then it becomes Christo-centric; when it is not linked to Him it is likely to become eccentric.
If you will forgive a personal reference, in the early days of my Christian life there was no one with a bigger ego than mine. Many times I tripped over it and sprawled in the dust of humiliation. After I entered the ministry and was obliged to make announcements, I would say something to this effect: ‘These are the meetings that will take place in this church over the coming week. The ones at which I shall be present are as follows…’ I often wondered why the congregation smiled when I made such an announcement.
Then came the time when the Lord allured me into the desert, slowed down my life and forced me to cry out, “Lord, what is happening? There are so many possibilities but Your blessing doesn’t seem to be flowing in the way it did.’ God asked me the same question as that asked of Jacob by the angel in the story we have read today: ‘What is your name?’ It took me a long time to answer but at last I spat it out: ‘My name is Ego.’ In that wrestling match with God my ego was repositioned. Instead of being central, it became marginal. I walk with a limp now. You cant’ see it in my stride; it’s in my soul.
Psalm 51:1 – 19
‘Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.’ (v6)In an earlier issue of Every Day With Jesus you may remember we concluded that the questions God asks of us are far more important than the questions we ask of Him. God’s questions are direct, straight to the point, and can sometimes cause us to feel apprehensive and nervous. In the same way, we become nervous when we get close to the root of our problems – an unsurrendered ego. We shy away from the issue and promise to do anything but resolve it. But a barrenness may set in and God may need to allure us into a desert so that we do something about the matter.
What if God spoke to you in an audible voice right now and put to you the same question that the angel put to Jacob in the passage we looked at yesterday: ‘What is your name?’ How would you respond? Jacob’s name meant ‘supplanter’, so when he owned up to his name, he was owning up to his nature. Make no mistake about it – Jacob was a deceiver. When God asks us our name He is not asking us for our given name but wanting us to admit to our real nature. Jacob was given a new name only after he had confessed his old one. In God’s service you have to admit where you are before you can move on to where you should be.
Have you been in a spiritual desert in recent times? Perhaps this may be the reason: God wants to reposition your ego. So on God’s behalf and ever so gently I ask you the question: ‘What is your name? Is it Ego?’ If so, make this an honest moment and confess it. The game is up. Surrender it to him right now. Your ego in your own hands is a problem; in His hands it is a possibility. With a changed Jacob came changed circumstances. When we change, our circumstances sometimes change too.
Learn more about CWR, the parent organization which publishes Every Day With Jesus at this link. You can also read previous Selwyn Hughes material here at C201 at this link.
The irony of celebrating our 2,000th post the same day we have a devotional about ego is not lost on me. I scheduled the post, and noticed the number later. I thought about changing things around, but then the coincidence was such that I decided to leave things as they were. It serves to remind me how easily the ego can creep into things.
Christianity 201 
Leave a Reply