Pursuing God can become an obsession. At least that is what Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of noted American evangelist Billy Graham (and the late Ruth Bell Graham) had to say when interviewed about her latest book, “The Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God Filled Life.” Released in August, my wife recently obtained a copy of her book, meeting Anne face to face at a book signing this past Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Anne wrote The Magnificent Obsession to explain her desire to grow closer to God, citing a yearning for something more, well beyond a simple emotional desire. Using words such as “heart hunger” to describe how she felt, Anne turned to her Bible to find God. But it wasn’t enough to read scripture – Anne had to apply what she read to her own life.

A Friend of God

Mrs. Lotz cited Abraham as a Bible character worth emulating. Indeed, Exodus 33:11 has this stunning account on how God viewed his relationship with Abraham:

“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.”

Applying the Bible Personally

Still, Anne wanted to know God just as Abraham did which meant lifting those words up off of the Bible, applying it to her life, living it out one step at a time, choice by choice by choice. What began as a simple move to pursue God soon became an obsession – a good one at that – which has led to where Mrs. Lotz is today – all consumed by the love of God. Ultimately, Anne believes that her relationship with God will also be defined by Him as a friendship.

The Magnificent Obsession, however, isn’t about Anne alone. Rather, it is her attempt to demonstrate to the reader that God’s relationship with Abraham wasn’t meant to be unique. Despite her own failures – yes, Anne is not the perfect Graham offspring – lessons have been learned during tough times as well as those times she defines as successful.

Just Give Me Jesus

Mrs. Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries, which is “…committed to giving out messages of Biblical exposition so that God’s Word is personal and relevant to ordinary people.” The author of ten books, including her bestselling “Just Give Me Jesus,” Anne lives in Raleigh with her husband, Dr. Dan Lotz.

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We Christians can look at things all wrong. No, I don’t mean that we’re wrong in our faith as pertaining to knowing that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. Rather, we can sometimes look at a certain passage of scripture and miss an important point.

Now allow me to say this – it is through the work of the Holy Spirit where we’re able to understand the Bible in the first place, as He empowers us to understand (grasp) what has been written. John 14:26 says, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Reading isn’t enough; comprehending what we’ve read is where it’s at.

Doubting Thomas

Even the novice amongst us has probably heard the term “Doubting Thomas” before, alluding to a passage in John 20:24-29 where this follower of Jesus misses His post-resurrection visit to His disciples. Thomas heard their stories, but that wasn’t good enough for him – he needed to see and touch Jesus for himself!

Poor, Thomas – he is like so many of us! I believe that Thomas had great faith, because he stayed faithful while Jesus was tried, convicted and crucified. I’m sure that when he had learned that all of the other disciples had seen Jesus there was a lot going through his mind – after all, THEY got to see and touch Jesus which affirmed their faith, while he had to take them at their word!

Doubting John the Baptist

We’ve been reading through the Gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings at our church. Our pastor, Rodney Finch, recently preached a sermon titled, “The Virus of Doubt.” The primary text used was Luke 7:18-35 which gave an account of John the Baptist sitting in prison, doubting if Jesus was, indeed, the Expected One (Savior).

How odd – John had already been paving the way for Jesus for some time, introducing Him to the world in John 1 as the Lamb of God. He KNEW who Jesus was, but as our pastor shared, he had his doubts too. Who wouldn’t? He was imprisoned for rebuking Herod who took Herodias to be his wife who belonged to Herod’s brother, Philip.

Knowing that Jesus had already healed the sick, raised the dead, freed the captives and done so many other miracles, John was probably wondering why he was still languishing in prison. Yet, when this message was brought to Jesus, our Savior didn’t rebuke John for his unbelief:

Then Jesus answering said to them, “Go your way, and tell John what things you have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whoever shall not be offended in me.” Luke 7:22-23

Not A Personal Savior?

We may believe that Jesus came so that he might be our “personal savior” a teaching rampant in the church today. While the “personal” aspect sounds lovely, in actuality Jesus is the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14 says, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” John wasn’t going to be freed from prison (saved), in fact he would eventually have his head cut off! The fact John wasn’t rescued meant that God had another plan for him – eternal life.

Jesus did respond to John by reminding him to stay the course. Can I be perfectly frank with you? We all struggle with whatever difficulties come our way, but sometimes those same problems can wear us down when they continue on and on and on…. I’m sure that John thought that he’d be sprung from prison by Jesus, instead he was left there and martyred. John died knowing that Jesus was the world’s Savior, but he wasn’t saved from a gruesome death.

The Savior of the World

Nothing I’ve said is meant to diminish who Jesus is, rather to bring some clarity to our doubts as well as to our expectations. Though I don’t look at the “personal savior” teaching as heresy, it can lead some believers to becoming discouraged if certain expectations aren’t being met. In John the Baptist’s case Jesus did relay an answer, though it might not have been the words he expected (or wanted) to hear.

We need to trust the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us no matter how difficult the situation we’re in. Unfulfilled expectations can lead to doubt, but if we’re able to look beyond our present circumstances, we can see that Jesus is, indeed, the Savior of the world!

Photo Credit:  Stephen J. Sullivan

See Also — The Blind Shall See (Matthew 11:5)

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