Applying Cliches to Scripture…or vice versa

By Loren Gier

SINCE I WAS A CHILD CLICHES HAVE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. I’M
IN THE MID FORTIES NOW AND I STILL ENJOY RESEARCHING CLICHES OF
OLD. AS A CHRISTIAN, CLICHES HAVE BEEN SURPASSED IN INTEREST BY
THE INFALLIBLE TRUTHS OF SCRIPTURE. AS OF LATE, I LIKE TO THINK OF
CLICHES AS A TYPE OF COMPACT PARABLE OR MYSTERY BY WHICH
GOD’S TRUTH MAY (OR MAY NOT) BE REVEALED; HAVE YOU EVER
WONDER ABOUT HIS WAYS WITH YOU?
IN PROVERBS CHAPTER 1 MYSTERIES AND SECRET SAYINGS ARE
REVEALED BY PROVERBS (WISDOM OF THOSE LONG BEFORE US
WHO’VE SOUGHT SIMPLE TRUTHS FOR A COMPLICATED LIFE).
SCRIPTURE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS THAT GOD IS KNOWN BY THE
THINGS HE’S CREATED, THEREFORE EVERY PERSON IS WITHOUT
EXCUSE OF MISSING THE BUS (ROMANS 1).
ONE CLICHE RECENTLY HELD MY ATTENTION IN A SERVICE ABOUT
DAILY CHRISTIAN DIFFICULTIES. I DID NOT HEAR THIS CLICHE IN THE
SERMON BUT RATHER WAS REMINDED OF IT IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE.
LET ME EXPLAIN:
(NASB) 2 CORINTHIANS 4:15-18 SAYS,
“For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is
spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to
abound to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart; but though
our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by
day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal
weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal.”
IN OTHER WORDS, BECAUSE OF THIS UNDERSTANDING, LET YOUR
PROBLEMS FALL OFF YOUR SHOULDERS LIKE, “WATER OFF A DUCK’S
BACK”.
A QUESTION BEGAN TO RISE UP IN MY MIND TURNING HEART.
“WHAT DOES A DUCK HAVE THAT I DON’T?” I’M A MAN. I CAN BUILD,
CREATE AND IMPROVISE ON A MUCH HIGHER LEVELTHAN AN ANIMAL
I’M CREATED IN THE CREATOR’S IMAGE WHICH MEANS I’M INTENDED
TO BE LIKE HIM. HE IS MY MODEL, NOT A DUCK. BUT EVEN THOSE
THINGS GOD HAS CREATED MAY BE USED TO CONVEY, TO RELATE AND
REVEAL THE MYSTERY OF GOD’S SIMPLE POWER FOR LIVING
VICTORIOUSLY.
IN THE PRESENCE OF A TRIAL OR THE MYSTERY OF THEM, TWO OF
MANY ANSWERS WHICH SURFACED WERE:
(1) A DUCK HAS FEATHERS (COVERING) AND
(2) A DUCK HAS OIL ON THOSE FEATHERS (PROTECTION OF EASE).
THE PRESENCE OF OIL ON FEATHERS ISN’T RESTRICTED TO DUCKS
ONLY. FOR EXAMPLE, AN EAGLE, AT SOME POINT OVER 40 YRS OLD
HAVE BEEN THROUGH SO MANY STORMS THE OIL ON THEIR FEATHERS
FADE. OIL KEEPS THEM LIGHT AS THEIR FEATHERS AND WHEN THEY
DIVE INTO WATER ARE NOT WEIGHTED DOWN BY WET FEATHERS. IN A
CHRISTIANS LIFE OIL IS TYPIFIED AS A LIKENESS OF GOD’S SPIRIT.
HOLY SPIRIT’S PRESENCE IN OUR THOUGHTS AND HEART
CONVERTS LIKE OIL ON OUR BACKS, OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND
UNPREDICTABLY DEMANDING CIRCUMSTANCES IN LIFE.
FEATHERS ARE A COVERING. GOD COVERS US WITH HIS
SALVATION (AKA REST: HIS PROMISES HIS WAY). WE HELP BY GOING TO
HIM FOR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION, WAITING FOR HIS ANSWER.
AS WE WAIT ON THE LORD HE HAS OUR PERMISSION TO COVER
US MORE THAN HIS PROMISE WITH EXTRA BLESSING (AKA DOUBLE
PORTIONS).
JUST LIKE OIL SPILLING ONTO YOU, WHOEVER YOU TOUCH,
WHATEVER YOU TOUCH BECOMES COVERED. WHEN YOU GOT GOD ON
YOU AND IN YOU, WHATEVER HIS SPIRIT HAS WILL TRANSFER ONTO
OTHERS AND THEIR PROBLEMS LIKE YOUR OWN.
(SEE ISAIAH 61:1-4 AND LUKE 4:18-19)
FRIENDS, WE ARE COVERED. THAT’S THE PROMISE OF JESUS. BUT
THE PROMISE DOESN’T STOP THERE. THE PROMISE CONTINUES WITH
JESUS AND OUR FATHER’S PRESENCE, HOLY SPIRIT, COVERING US WITH
HIS SALVATION AND COATING AND PROVIDING VITALITY AND LIFE TO
LIVE, NOT JUST PLAIN OLD LIFE EITHER. WE ARE OVERCOMERS, MORE
THAN CONQUERORS.
(SEE ACTS 2:12-21 AND ROMANS 10:3-4,6-13)
IT’S TIME TO BE THANKFUL FOR THOSE THINGS THAT TRUMP ALL
THINGS. A FRIEND OF MINE RECENTLY DEFINED THE GIVING OF THANKS
AS THE ACT OF GRATITUDE. GRATITUDE IS THE EXPRESSION OF
THANKFULNESS. WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR? DON’T KEEP IT TO
YOURSELF, BUT LET IT OUT AND THE OIL WILL FLOW. IT WILL GET ALL
OVER YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH. DO THIS
EVERY DAY. BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH’S YOU DISCOVER IN THE SCRIPT
OF GOD, LET THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE ROLL OFF YOUR BACK. IS THE
CREATOR ALIVE IN YOU? LG