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"It Didn't Work"

By Tim Nichols

While serving in the military in Italy I was able to study with a young man in the barracks who seemed to be deeply interested in spiritual things. Over a period of some time I made it a point to go over all that I knew to cover in order to teach him how to be a Christian. We went over the Bible plan of salvation and he seemed to accept it quickly. We studied the nature of the church and one's relationship to it when one is born again. I was pleased beyond words when he expressed his desire to be baptized for the remission of his sins. The small church there was happy to receive a new babe in Christ.

He enthusiastically participated in our Bible studies and worship for a few weeks, and then he began to grow distant and less interested. Then he ceased to attend. He became unavailable for further private study and reluctant to discuss spiritual things. We were concerned that someone had possibly said or done something that had created a problem and we wanted to do whatever might be reasonable or possible to help.

Finally, he told me his problem: "It didn't work." He went on to explain that he had had a habit of smoking cigarettes and he had expected God to "deliver" him from this habit upon becoming a true, New Testament Christian. Instead, the temptation was even stronger than it had been before and he had been praying and pleading with God to remove it. We offered all of the encouragement that we knew how to give to him. We were sympathetic and patient. We prayed for him. He would not return to the race, however, and the pained look on his face suggested that his belief about this matter was sincere.

I suspect that most of us can, to some degree, identify with this man and his challenge. We have found ourselves faced with difficulties and have yearned for some immediate and God-given relief. We have been able to recognize the moral rightness of some activity that we have wanted to engage in and yet we have been unable to easily find the resolve to go and do it. We have seen the evil in some thing that we desire to do and have yet struggled with an intense desire or tendency to do it. Honest and introspective men will admit to this and kind men will not ask me for examples.

Does God fail us? When the preacher loses his train of thought or stumbles over some words after some good brother has publicly prayed that he will have a "ready recollection of the things that he has studied" can it be said that God has failed? When a young man in Italy does not obtain the desired reduction in his temptation after genuine obedience and fervent prayer, has God neglected to do what He has taught us to expect?

God does not fail us. On the other hand, we victimize and defraud our brethren, especially new converts, when we teach them to expect some immediate relief, some supernatural reduction in their temptation, or some miraculous increase in their resolve to do what is right. These are real people with real struggles who are seeking real answers. We help them on their way up that narrow road to the strait gate of heaven when we teach them the process by which God does give powerful aid through His inspired word.

This profound difference (between the notion of direct aid and the truth of moral assistance given by God by means of His word) is not merely academic. The doctrine of direct help produces human fatalities. It leads men to expect what is not offered and that expectation causes very real stumbling -- and emotional distress. It leaves honest men and women feeling abandoned by God and looking the other way while God's hand is extended to them.

God wants to actively work in the heart of every Christian. The fact that He has chosen to use His word as His instrument for doing so does not diminish the power of His operation upon our moral lives. Only our All-Knowing and All-Powerful God knows our hearts and is able to supply our needs. He tells us that his word is "living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). He teaches us to expect that He, through His word will teach us, reprove us, correct us, nurture us in righteousness, and furnish us completely for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). Let us teach our brethren that God is ready, willing, and attempting to help them if they will only avail themselves of His offered help. He knows of our personal struggles and sympathizes with us as He leads us with His word (Hebrews 4:12-15). May we be able to say to those who remain faithful that "we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe" (1 Thessalonians 2:13).