Luther's Misery

"I sit here at ease, hardened and unfeeling—alas! Praying little, grieving little for the Church of God, burning rather in the fierce fires of my untamed flesh. It comes to this: I should be afire in the spirit; in reality I am afire in the flesh, with lust, laziness, idleness, sleepiness. It is perhaps because you have all ceased praying for me that God has turned away from me. . . . For the last eight days I have written nothing, nor prayed nor studied, partly from self-indulgence, partly from another vexatious handicap [constipation and piles (hemorrhoids), we find out in another place]. . . . I really cannot stand it any longer; . . . Pray for me, I beg you, for in my seclusion here I am submerged in sins." - E. G. Rupp and Benjamin Drewery, eds., Martin Luther: Documents of Modern History [New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1970], 72-73.

These words were penned for Melanchthon by Martin Luther when the latter was in the midst of translating the New Testament. It gives me great encouragement to know that someone like Luther, who was monumentally used by God, went through the same quagmire of DESPAIR over sins that most would consider absent in a man of his spiritual stature (which, of course, is the common misconception).

The war with sin will rage on while the breath of life courses through our lungs. But sometimes the enemy gets his way and we are left reeling in SHAME and DEFEAT. Luther reminds me that GOD IS FAITHFUL and HE WILL FINISH WHAT HE STARTED IN ME, regardless of what present circumstances might dictate.

The FLESH...LUST, LAZINESS, IDLENESS...SIN...you may have your way for a season but "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom 8:37)