Because at this moment they have a “Just as I am” faith. Terrified. Anxious. Frightened. Overwhelmed. Angry. Questioning. Wondering if God really cares. They come to Jesus—just as they are. And He does what He does—he rescues them. Because this is who He is.
It is necessary that we learn to come to God just as we are. But that’s not where faith stops. It grows. Eventually it comes to the place of “just as He was”. Where we come to accept the Lord for who He is and not who we want Him to be. Where we learn to trust in His timing and not our own. Where we relish Christ however He appears.
Samuel Rutherford said it this way:
It is your part now to believe, and suffer, and hope, and wait on; for I protest, in the presence of that all-discerning eye, who knoweth what I write and what I think, that I would not want the sweet experience of the consolations of God for all the bitterness of affliction. Nay, whether God come to His children with a rod or a crown, if He come Himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome, Jesus, what way soever Thou come, if we can get a sight of Thee! And sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bedside and draw by the curtains, and say, “Courage, I am thy salvation”, than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never to be visited of God. (Samuel Rutherford, Letters of Samuel Rutherford, p. 18-19)
Just as He is.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
