A few years ago, Beverly and I were driving in the Mojave Desert. For many miles, there was nothing but wide-open spaces and nothing human, except paved roads. Come to think of it, we didn’t pass one vehicle during our trek through at least 80 miles of desert! You could say that we were in the slap-dab of nowhere. It was a place of incredible beauty but you had to keep in mind that the environmental elements can be quite hazardous to one’s health.
Have you ever heard of being in the place of No and Anywhere (no to God anywhere)? This is not the same as being in Nowhereville as we were that day in the desert. I will bet you that the world is not going to look at it the way I am going to propose, and I seriously doubt if I will ever get complete buy-in from believers on my point of view. Nonetheless, I have learned to put a spiritual value on being nowhere and at No and Anywhere.
I don’t recall the source, but I read about people questioning a Scottish doctor by the name of David Livingstone (1813-1873). They were troubled that he would be wasting his medical knowledge in the bush of Africa as a pioneer medical missionary. Some even reasoned that it would be better for him to stay behind and train others to go in his place; he would have none of it! Supposedly, he said, “I am already dead in Christ; it doesn’t matter where I am buried.” Such testimony was provocative and profound. It revealed that his self-ambition was crucified, and obedience to the calling of God became his central focus.
He had grabbed hold of a truth that we rarely or barely can wrap our arms around given our internal and external struggles in obeying God. The best place to be in the world is at the center of God’s will for our life – at Yes and Anywhere (yes to God no matter where). To such a saint, it doesn’t matter where, when, or what it is; if the LORD says go here or there or do this or that, the divine charge is to do it immediately and completely with every ounce of his or her being regardless of the costs or how the world looks upon him or her (cf. Deut 6:5; Mt 6:10a). Such is a citizen of Yes and Anywhere.
All three of those factors are challenging in and of themselves, eh? So, why do we struggle with living at Yes and Anywhere? The word rebellion comes to mind. Living at Yes and Anywhere can be challenging because it abrasively cuts against the grain of our sinful nature, not to mention the pushback by the devil and the world system in opposition to God and anyone or anything related to Him. If obedience was easy like sinning, everybody would be obedient, methinks.
Being at Yes and Anywhere is where Dr. Livingstone was found – “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” But he was never located at No and Anywhere. This dark place is the vortex where all of our fears, foibles, failures, faults, futilities, and fragilities converge and play havoc with our souls. It goes by another name; it’s called Misery (not Missouri to be clear here), located in Vanity & Vexation county (Misery loves company).
Remember Jesus talking about the people honoring Him with their lips but their hearts were far from Him, or why call Me Lord and do not the things that I say? These expressions by our Lord are a picture of those living in No and Anywhere, saved or lost! This is the place of disobedience, where self-absorption thrives and surrender to the Sovereignty of God dies a thousand deaths.
Oswald Chambers pointed out a problem in his day that is a problem in our day,
“Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ.”
What causes might that be? Self-appointed ones that are outside the framework of God’s will. You will find no lack of devotion in Yes and Anywhere. There are a lot of religious folks living at No and Anywhere. They are everywhere to be found. All one has to do is see the absence of the fruit of righteousness in that town (cf. Lk 6:44)! The Pharisees were the metaphor for such a spiritual place. We can be in the most desirable location on earth and be in No and Anywhere, right there.
Now, whether we are living in Somewhereville or Nowhereville as a believer, the absolute best, most rewarding place to be is at the center of God’s will. Do you believe that? Anything outside the will of God for our life is vanity and temporal, a life lived under the sun. No and Anywhere will never be the place of spiritual blessings. In fact, I will go so far as to say that there is absolutely no positive derivative in going against the will of God as a believer or an unbeliever for that matter.
If we know this spiritual reality deep down in our spirit, why then, do we stay away from the place of Yes and Anywhere? We mentioned “rebellion” earlier, but it might be better to give you Jn 3:19 and leave that answer up to you and me to give to God; He knows already (Jer 17:10), but He wants for us to know it.
In this Johannine passage, there is a difference between expression (agapao, trans., love, Jn 3:19) and possession (agape, trans., love, Rom 5:5). In the Gospel of John, the verb form (agapao) is used of God, godly men, and surprisingly, of ungodly men, but the noun form (agape) is used of God and godly men exclusively.
It is ironic that we find in John's Gospel his first usage of agapao in the famous John 3:16 passage, “For God so loved [agapao] the world…” and the very next occurrence of this verb is found in the same chapter three verses down in John 3:19 of wicked men, “…men loved [agapao] darkness rather than light...!”
The noun form (agape) is never used of the lost (those without the Holy Spirit). Whenever the verb form (agapao) is used in connection with unbelievers, it is never directed toward God. If there wasn't a distinction between natural love and supernatural love, Rom 5:5 would be meaningless.
What I have observed today by believers is mistaking natural love for supernatural love. God is not natural love but agape (love, 1 Jn 4:8, 16). We are not to naturally love God or our neighbor but supernaturally (agape, Mk 12:30; 12:31). We are not to naturally love the brethren but supernaturally (agape, 1 Jn 3:14). We are nothing if we have not agape (cf. 1 Cor 13).
Wouldn’t it be spiritually sensible to avoid living in the town of No and Anywhere or No God Anywhere? Such a dark spiritual dwelling place reveals we have a love (agape) problem (cf. Jn 14:15). This issue with our love (agape) for God is the real reason why we are avoiding that place of Yes and Anywhere, leaning toward the darkness, thinking wrong thoughts, saying the wrong words, and behaving in an ungodly manner contrary to the teaching of Scripture.
When we truly love God, the natural byproduct is obedience to His commands (cf. Jn 14:15-16, 21-24; 15:10; 1 Jn 2:3-5; 4:19-20; 5:2-3). Keep in mind that God is all-knowing; so, it is useless to use antics of pretension. If we have to resort to that kind of self-deceit, we are not in love with God anyway but with ourselves. Selfishness doesn’t fit in with Yes and Anywhere.
How many vexations are you and I willing to put up with until we come to realize that living in Yes and Anywhere is an expression of love and gratitude for all that He has done for us? Living in Yes and Anywhere is truly a better neighborhood to be associated with for the glory of God. It is the only place of spiritual blessings and happiness.
And by the way, that hood could literally be in the middle of nowhere! If we are truly born again, we are dead in Christ, and it doesn’t matter where we are buried, right? Because God knows where we are, and that is all that really matters. He knows where we are spiritually, too, if we are living at No and Anywhere or living at Yes and Anywhere. Where is your spiritual domicile? <><
%20MG%20t-bkgrd%2060x44.png){kind=small}
%20sunflower%20makeover%2045x63.png){kind=small}
