Getting the Most Out Of Powlison
Jul. 25 2007
I don’t like check-ups.
I dread going back to the optometrist every year just to be told I�m more blind than last year. I dread getting those little postcards in the mail that say �It�s time for your yearly dental appointment!� (Especially when the postcard has a smiling cartoon kid in headgear. How does that encourage people?) I don�t want to �waste� time on check-ups. And I�m afraid that if I have a check-up there will be a problem that I�ll have to fix. Personally, I�d rather take my chances.
I can easily bring this same anti-checkup mentality into my spiritual life. Whenever someone recommends that I go through questions to diagnose my spiritual health or tells me to sit down and examine my heart for idols I all too easily brush it aside. Exciting new book? I�m all over it. Deep personal reflection? Not so much.
So when C.J. recommended David Powlison’s �Personal Reflection� to everyone at the conference I might have cringed justå a little bit. But a few months later, after having used the reflection myself my heart attitude is radically different.
In the paper Powlison begins by helping us meditate deeply on hymns before tackling heart issues. Then in three different areas Powlison provides a passage to ponder and six questions to help us go from idolatry-working-through-worry/anger/escapism to faith-working-through-love.
Here are my thoughts as I tackle the topic of anxiety (obviously condensed):
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First, Powlison helps me meditate on Ps 94:19: �When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.�
I realize that �cares� come from inside me, from �my heart.� I�m causing the anxiety I feel! (Pretty obvious but, yes, I�m a little slow sometimes.) Yet there is hope because �Your consolations cheer my soul.� The problem is inside me, but help comes from outside me. Good news.
Then Powlison gives six steps for reflection
Situation: I realize that I tend to be most anxious about situations I�m not totally in control of. When I�m control I�m fine. When I�m not anxiety ensues.
Reaction: My anxiety comes out in my constant thoughts about what I�m supposed to do, how I can do it, what if it doesn�t work. Then as I become self-centered I react in anger toward things (and people) that get in my way.
Motive: I realize that thoughts like this describe me: �I want control of the situation and outcome.� �I fear losing control of things.� �If only people gave me control of the situation I could fix it and be happy.� Ouch. Sad but true.
Message: Then I move to the specific �consolations� found in the passage. Psalm 94:9 says �He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye does he not see?� I realize that I can�t hear and see everything, but God can. It�s foolish for me to try to �control� everything when I can�t, and when God already does. Verse 11 says �He who teaches man knowledge�the Lord�knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.�
Turn: I spend some time praying out loud. As Powlison says, I �Honor Him. Give Him thanks. Need Him. Ask. Plead. Confess. Delight. Notice. Remember.� As I thank God for his sovereignty I can say with the psalmist that �The Lord has become my stronghold� (Ps 94:22). I feel my burdens and anxiety lift, replaced by the weight of glory as I stand in awe of God.
Respond: Now I get specific. I realize that when my thoughts begin to spin in an anxious spiral I need truth to right my perspective. I decide to memorize Psalm 94:8-11. When I feel anxious I need to put to death my sinful craving to control everything and spend time crying out to God for help.
(This is just a piece of my plan�there�s much more�)
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Using the reflection helped me realize that going over material like this Personal Reflection isn�t a burdensome check-up, but a refreshing time with God. Yes, I probably need to keep an eye on my health. But I�m absolutely sure that I need to keep my whole heart postured toward God. I need time for reflection because I need time with God.
�How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?�
Get Powlison�s �Personal Reflection.�
Photo credit: Jenny James