"Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you." (Matthew 7:7, ISV)
Talking to my friend Rebekah the other night, I found myself recalling a brilliant analogy dealing with our relationship with Jesus. It was something told to me over a year ago by my spiritual big brother, Bruce Purvis.
You see, Jesus likes to play hide and seek with us. This isn't negative like it sounds. Instead, this is one of the most profound pieces of personal theology that I've ever come across. Our relationship with Jesus is like a big, ongoing game of hide and seek, in which we are always the seeker. But, just like in the real game, Jesus doesn't hide in the same place every time. If we find him behind a bush one round, we can expect he won't be there the next. In other words, every time we seek Jesus, we will find him in a different place every time. He isn't going to be where he was before.
Let me put this into better terms. You won't always find Jesus in his blessings (financial, etc). You won't always find him in his power (healing, gifts). You will find him there sometimes, and maybe even frequently. But you will not find him there EVERY time. He does this to teach us how to seek him. And, here's the best part. You WILL find him in a familiar place again. Because, as any smart hider knows, after one spot has been overlooked as it has become a common hiding spot, it is game to hide there again. So, if Jesus hid behind a bush the first time, give him a few rounds, and he'll hide there again!! The important thing to remember here is this: the more you seek him, the more places you will find him. Just remember to look for him in a different place and a different way.
Can't find him lately? Quit looking behind the bush and look behind the shed, or in a tree. He's there, waiting to see if you can find him and more importantly, if you want to find him.
Remember, seek and you will find......
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Playing Dumb: Further Objections About Calling
In "Who Am I?", I shared with all of you my thoughts and revelations on calling. Let's recap on that before I cover the next three objections that we give.
I said that most objections to God's call on your life start with a feeling of unworthiness. This is the gateway to the self-destruction of your call. It is also the door that leads to any further objections to the task at hand. As you can see in the Bible, Moses objected FOUR different times, with "I'm not worthy" being the initial excuse. Now, let's jump into the other three.
OBJECTION #2: I Don't Know What To Do
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ' The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, "What is his name?' What should I tell them?" (Exodus 3:13)
Now, this objection is more of an invitation for instruction. I believe that Moses really didn't know what to say to the Isarelites. You see, Moses understood the mentality of the Hebrews. After all, he had lived among them as a Egyptian for most of his life. He knew that the Hebrews would be doubtful if he couldn't give them some sort of legitimate answer. But, yet again, God gave him an answer.
God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, "The Lord, the God of your fathers- the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob- has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3: 14-15)
You see, you are powerless to do anything without God. So, using the excuse of not knowing what to do is very pointless. NOBODY knows what to do without the direction of God. He will never lead you astray. If you follow his direction, everything will fall into place. Just look at what happened later on. Moses and Aaron went to the elders, per God's instructions, and the elders believed and worshiped (Ex. 4:29-31). That takes care of what you are supposed to do.
OBJECTION #3 & #4 I CAN'T DO THIS
This is where unworthiness comes back into play. You see, because of the false sense of unworthiness, Moses believed that he was incapable of doing anything God had said. in Exodus 4:1, Moses tells God that they people will not believe him, and in verse 10, Moses tells God that he cant speak very well.
This is where things get interesting. God will always give a way of accomplishing the task at hand. If you read verses 2 - 9, God give Moses the power to do wonders. This is so the Israelites would believe in what Moses was saying. No problem, right? God has taken care of every problem Moses could have.
Wrong.
Moses STILL had to object by saying that he didn't have the ability to speak to the people. God had given him direction, words to say, and power!! But this was not enough to convince Moses to do anything. It was because of this stubbornness and fear that God became angry with Moses. In verse 11, God basically told Moses that if he had made Moses, then Moses could do what was asked of him. He told Moses that he would teach him what to say, and Moses still begs for God to send someone else!!! God becomes enraged and tells him to take Aaron with him to help speak (verse 14-17). In the end. God still provided a way for Moses to go about his task. I do believe, though, that if Moses had made one more objection, God would have really chosen someone else.
God has called you for a reason, and he wants YOU to do it. If God has said you can do it, THEN YOU CAN!! He isn't stupid; he knows what he's doing. Nothing you do our say can convince God that you are not capable of doing his will. But if you still refuse, then he will move on, and your life will be nothing but a shell of what it could have been.
You are called of God and are endowed with the abilities to do what he asks. He will guide you every step of the way and provide every means of accomplishing his will for your life. Be careful, though, because once you do, the enemy still has tricks up his sleeve.
I said that most objections to God's call on your life start with a feeling of unworthiness. This is the gateway to the self-destruction of your call. It is also the door that leads to any further objections to the task at hand. As you can see in the Bible, Moses objected FOUR different times, with "I'm not worthy" being the initial excuse. Now, let's jump into the other three.
OBJECTION #2: I Don't Know What To Do
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ' The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, "What is his name?' What should I tell them?" (Exodus 3:13)
Now, this objection is more of an invitation for instruction. I believe that Moses really didn't know what to say to the Isarelites. You see, Moses understood the mentality of the Hebrews. After all, he had lived among them as a Egyptian for most of his life. He knew that the Hebrews would be doubtful if he couldn't give them some sort of legitimate answer. But, yet again, God gave him an answer.
God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, "The Lord, the God of your fathers- the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob- has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3: 14-15)
You see, you are powerless to do anything without God. So, using the excuse of not knowing what to do is very pointless. NOBODY knows what to do without the direction of God. He will never lead you astray. If you follow his direction, everything will fall into place. Just look at what happened later on. Moses and Aaron went to the elders, per God's instructions, and the elders believed and worshiped (Ex. 4:29-31). That takes care of what you are supposed to do.
OBJECTION #3 & #4 I CAN'T DO THIS
This is where unworthiness comes back into play. You see, because of the false sense of unworthiness, Moses believed that he was incapable of doing anything God had said. in Exodus 4:1, Moses tells God that they people will not believe him, and in verse 10, Moses tells God that he cant speak very well.
This is where things get interesting. God will always give a way of accomplishing the task at hand. If you read verses 2 - 9, God give Moses the power to do wonders. This is so the Israelites would believe in what Moses was saying. No problem, right? God has taken care of every problem Moses could have.
Wrong.
Moses STILL had to object by saying that he didn't have the ability to speak to the people. God had given him direction, words to say, and power!! But this was not enough to convince Moses to do anything. It was because of this stubbornness and fear that God became angry with Moses. In verse 11, God basically told Moses that if he had made Moses, then Moses could do what was asked of him. He told Moses that he would teach him what to say, and Moses still begs for God to send someone else!!! God becomes enraged and tells him to take Aaron with him to help speak (verse 14-17). In the end. God still provided a way for Moses to go about his task. I do believe, though, that if Moses had made one more objection, God would have really chosen someone else.
God has called you for a reason, and he wants YOU to do it. If God has said you can do it, THEN YOU CAN!! He isn't stupid; he knows what he's doing. Nothing you do our say can convince God that you are not capable of doing his will. But if you still refuse, then he will move on, and your life will be nothing but a shell of what it could have been.
You are called of God and are endowed with the abilities to do what he asks. He will guide you every step of the way and provide every means of accomplishing his will for your life. Be careful, though, because once you do, the enemy still has tricks up his sleeve.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Hindsight: Look Into the Past
So, a WHOLE lot of stuff has happened to some friends and myself this past semester, wrapping up one heck of a freshman year in college. As of late, a friend and myself have discovered something, thought it is nothing new. This concept is called, you guessed it, hindsight.
The song "Thanks For The Memories," by Fall Out Boy makes a surprisingly profound statement. Near the end of the second verse, the song states, "It's always cloudy except for when you look into the past." Granted, the song itself is talking about the mistake of a one night stand. But, it speaks volumes. As humans, we can't rightly see ten feet in front of our face as far as the future is concerned. We try SO hard to figure out what the future holds. We are so impatient. In short, foresight is harder to receive than hindsight. Our future is cloudy; our past, painfully clear.
Romans 8:28 tells us that everything works out. In the midst of a hairy situation, we can't see the road ahead of us for what it is. We see only the immediate hardships. Yet, God saves us from seeing what we COULD have went through, the pain he saved us from. Here's a good way to see it. A pastor was speaking at my school one day, and he told a story of his ascent of Mt. Sinai. It was grueling, exhausting, and seemed to be a waste of time. He saw how dangerous the path was, despite the fact he was climbing during early morning, with almost no light from the sun. He finally made it to the top as the sun was rising. The pastor looked down the mountain as the sun began to cast its light in the path he had just endured. It was then, he saw what God wanted him to see. The sun's light revealed the many cliffs and extremely dangerous ledges that he had been oblivious too during the ascent due to the low light . By looking back from where he came, he saw what God hid from him in order to keep him safe.
We will never fully understand what we go through. Yet, it is not always what we go through that teaches us; it is what God spared us from in the process. Hindsight is one of life's greatest teachers, used by the Lord frequently to save us from much harm. A lot of things have happened to me as of late, but God has given me the hindsight to see what could have been. I have developed perseverance in the face of trial (James 1:2-3) and kept my eyes on God every step of the way. And so, this concludes my end-of-the-semester post.
Good night, and God Bless.
The song "Thanks For The Memories," by Fall Out Boy makes a surprisingly profound statement. Near the end of the second verse, the song states, "It's always cloudy except for when you look into the past." Granted, the song itself is talking about the mistake of a one night stand. But, it speaks volumes. As humans, we can't rightly see ten feet in front of our face as far as the future is concerned. We try SO hard to figure out what the future holds. We are so impatient. In short, foresight is harder to receive than hindsight. Our future is cloudy; our past, painfully clear.
Romans 8:28 tells us that everything works out. In the midst of a hairy situation, we can't see the road ahead of us for what it is. We see only the immediate hardships. Yet, God saves us from seeing what we COULD have went through, the pain he saved us from. Here's a good way to see it. A pastor was speaking at my school one day, and he told a story of his ascent of Mt. Sinai. It was grueling, exhausting, and seemed to be a waste of time. He saw how dangerous the path was, despite the fact he was climbing during early morning, with almost no light from the sun. He finally made it to the top as the sun was rising. The pastor looked down the mountain as the sun began to cast its light in the path he had just endured. It was then, he saw what God wanted him to see. The sun's light revealed the many cliffs and extremely dangerous ledges that he had been oblivious too during the ascent due to the low light . By looking back from where he came, he saw what God hid from him in order to keep him safe.
We will never fully understand what we go through. Yet, it is not always what we go through that teaches us; it is what God spared us from in the process. Hindsight is one of life's greatest teachers, used by the Lord frequently to save us from much harm. A lot of things have happened to me as of late, but God has given me the hindsight to see what could have been. I have developed perseverance in the face of trial (James 1:2-3) and kept my eyes on God every step of the way. And so, this concludes my end-of-the-semester post.
Good night, and God Bless.
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