Asymptotic – a-səm(p)-ˈtä-tik
Have you ever tried over and over to pick up an object and try as you might it continued to slip through your fingers back to the ground. It’s not until you stretch (sometimes painfully) past the extent of your natural reach, that you are able to get a real good grip and apprehend the object! Imagine what the floors of your home, or your vehicle would look like if every attempt to retrieve these items was aborted due to discomfort, discouragement, or downright disgust? The SAT word found in the subject of this blog entry comes from the Greek word “asymptotos” which means, not meeting. One of the less mathematic definitions that I found was simply a line that is moving increasingly nearer to its associated curve without ever meeting or intersecting it.
I am afraid that many of us are either residing or are moving dangerously close to becoming asymptotic in our walk with God. When we begin our relationship with God it is a moment that fundamentally requires a change. There must be a change in our speech, interactions, lifestyle, thought process, and certainly a change of heart. It is interesting to ponder just how these changes often place us right up against things, people and situations that are at times, very uncomfortable. There is a consistent pattern within the word of God, in which the presence of God was most evident, when His followers found themselves in the most uncomfortable positions. Do God’s people ever really have to suffer for their faith? Let’s do a brief recap… Just as Abraham is about to slaughter his son Isaac, God speaks. The 3 Hebrew boys are actually placed inside a fiery furnace and they are greeted and protected by a Divine visitor. Paul and Silas are imprisoned and shackled in chains and the presence and power of God brings forth their release! Stephen is on his knees about to be stoned to death and he sees the glory of God and Jesus at His right hand! There is something to be said for the act of turning to face the right direction, but there is another thing entirely to be found actively moving from our respective places of comfort in pursuit of meeting and apprehending the presence of God in our lives. The change that I briefly mentioned before is not without uneasiness, discomfort and downright pain at times.
When we are actively reaching higher, deeper and further into the things of God even past the point of comfort, the good news is that we will apprehend all of what God has planned for each of us. What if the woman with the issue of blood chose not to reach out after years of struggle, one more time for her healing? There is certainly one example of a servant of God who was willing to deny the comforts enjoyed by many contemporaries. He didn’t stop at being willing but stretched himself to the point of being shamed, despised, accused, and crucified all for the glory of God.
Ephesians 2:10 explains how much God thinks of each of us and just how important it is for all of us to stretch one more time past our point of discomfort. “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to DO good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
