DOING THE DIFFICULT: KEEP FOCUSED ON GOD

January 4, 2015 at 4:11 PM (Christian Living, Doing The Difficult)
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INTRODUCTION

Some people love challenges. They’ll look at something new. Something hard. And they’ll take up the challenge of doing it just to get the satisfaction or thrill of knowing they can do something they’ve never done before. Something hard. Challenging. Exhilarating.

Just so you know, I am not that way at all. I am 1,000,000,000,000% a comfort-zone type of guy. I like doing the doable. That means it’s easy and doesn’t demand a whole lot of  my time, effort, or thinking. When it comes to what’s new, difficult, or challenging, you can generally count me out, folks. I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole!

I won’t do the difficult—not unless I’m forced to—because life already has too many difficulties and challenges. I don’t need to  add to them. I don’t need any more trials or challenges!  I’m heading into my golden years and I love to relax, take it easy, and do what I love doing most. Can you guess what that is? It’s studying  the Bible and writing. I just love spending time with the Lord because He talks to me a lot of times—not audibly, but in my spirit—and He tells me lots of really neat stuff. Stuff that I’ve just got to share with you. This blog is a perfect example of the stuff God gives me when I spend time with Him. I love Him. I love what I’m doing. But I dread doing the difficult.

Here’s a question for you. When the Lord asks you to do something difficult…no, strike that. When the Lord tells you to do something difficult, something you really don’t want to do, something you think is impossible to do, something that’s a Are you out of your mind? I can’t do that! type of thing; what do you do?

Just so you know, you’re not the only one who’s had to do something really really hard. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there and done that. The biblical characters weren’t any different from us. In fact, they were exactly like us: human. I’d like to draw on their life’s experiences and, from beyond the grave, as it were, let them share with us what we’ve got to do when the Lord gives us our Mission I M possible. By God’s grace, we can do what God’s counting on us to do! Here’s how.

 KEEP FOCUSED ON GOD

Yay! You’ve read my last post in this series and you’ve decided, like David, it’s high time to obey the Lord. You can’t put it off any longer. It’s been killing you. So you’ve said a prayer, taken a deep breath, and taken the first step towards obeying God. Good for you! God’s so proud of you, I’m sure! I know I am!

Now what? Well, if you haven’t already found out, WHENEVER YOU SET YOUR MIND AND HANDS TO OBEY THE LORD THE DEVIL WILL BE RIGHT THERE WITH YOU TO TRY AND STOP  YOU. HE’LL SCARE YOU. DISCOURAGE YOU. GIVE YOU ALL SORTS OF REASONS TO QUIT.

I wish it weren’t that way, but that’s just how nasty the devil is. You think God’s gonna be with you (and He is) and things are gonna go smooth (not necessary). Everything’s gonna turn out alright (eventually, but not always at first sight). But the devil is gonna do everything he can to stop that from happening. He’s fought you this hard and this long, preventing and prolonging your obedience to God. Do you think he’s gonna stop messing with you now that you’re actually obeying God? Not on your life! The devil’s gonna work harder to make things even harder for you. To make it look like it’s not gonna work. It ain’t gonna happen. You can’t do it.  It can’t be done. You may as well stop now before you make a bigger mess and fool of yourself, the devil says.

What are you gonna do? Who are you gonna believe and follow? Think the Lord led you wrong and gave you something truly impossible for you to do? Not on your life, mister! The devil’s a lying to you and you’d best not listen to him. Make the difficult choice and continue obeying God. You know what you’ve got to do. Keep focused on the mission. Get it done. And don’t let anyone or anything stop you from doing what you know you’ve got to do. Don’t get sidetracked or distracted. Shut the devil up. Don’t let him get into your mind and convince you you can’t get ‘er done. Keep leaning on God for grace, courage, and strength. Take it one step at a time. Keep doing what God’s telling you to do, even if you’re doing just a little bit at a time. As long as you do that you’ll eventually get ‘er done.

This reminds me of one of our Lord’s disciples named Peter. It’d been a really long day with the Lord ministering to gobs and gobs of people (Matthew 14:13-23). Evening was setting in. Jesus fed the five-thousand. Dusk was on it’s way—a beckoning reminder to all that it was time to wrap things up and call it a day. So Jesus sent His  twelve disciples in a boat across the Sea. He would stay on shore for a while, send the multitudes of folks on their way, then He would stay a while and pray by Himself. Eventually, He’ll meet up with the disciples on the other side.

It wasn’t long before things took a terrifying and disheartening turn for the worse (Matthew 14:24-33). A storm came up while the disciples were at sea. If you’ve ever been at sea or on the shoreline while it was storming you can very well imagine what was happening to the disciples as the waves and winds beat mercilessly against the boat, threatening to sink it. The disciples, I’m sure, to a man, were panic-stricken as they frantically bailed water out of the boat, rowed against the winds, and hung on for dear life. Wow! What an awful time to be alone, on your own, and not have Jesus around to bail you out! Talk about baaaad timing! I can see tempers flaring and mouths running loose. Why did Jesus send us across the sea at such a lousy time as this? This was one bad call!

Jesus, I’m sure, was very well aware of what was happening to His disciples out on the sea. But He continued praying until He was done praying. Finally, sometime between 3 AM and 6 AM, Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water! Remember it’s storming really bad. It’s dark. The disciples have been rowing for a good 7 to 9 hours. They tired and tuckered out. They weren’t in the best of moods.

Suddenly, in the faint moon light, they saw someone walking towards them on the water! It’s a ghost!, they all cried. But Jesus assured them it was He Himself for real (Matthew 14:25-27). I’m sure the disciples’ moods were instantly changed by the sight of their Lord. With Jesus came hope and the miracle of certain survival!

Well, Jesus was still a ways off from the boat. Even though the voice was familiar, the form wasn’t entirely clear to the disciples. Peter, for one, wasn’t totally sure that it really was Jesus. People can’t walk on water! That’s impossible! But ghosts can! This guy’s got to be a ghost!  Peter’s unconvinced it’s really Jesus. So he decided that if it was really Jesus walking out there on the water, then, Jesus had better prove it by telling Peter to come to Him walking on the water (Matthew 14:28). Peter must’ve figured if Jesus could walk on water, then he could too! Like I said in my intro, some guys thrive on challenges. So Jesus gives the order. Come!

Amazingly, for a guy who must’ve battled fear many times while out on the sea  during a storm, Peter mustered the courage and faith, got out of the boat, and started walking towards Jesus! Peter was actually walking on water! He was doing something that was ordinarily, humanly impossible! Like Jesus told us, WE CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE AS LONG AS WE BELIEVE (Matthew 17:20, Mark 9:23).

Now everything to this point has been unimaginably, excruciating difficult. But walking on water will be Peter’s worst nightmare. Now he’s got no boat protecting him from sinking. The other disciples aren’t close enough to him to hold on to him. He’s gonna survive this storm and walk on water strictly on his own faith. Nothing else is holding him up. He’ll sink if he gets skeptical. He’ll drown if he doubts.

Peter does fine as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus. As long as he stays focused on Christ he’ll succeed.

But, like many of us, Peter succumbs to the temptation of looking around at the awful circumstances that he’s faced with. He takes his eyes off of  Jesus, looks at the winds and waves, and, you guessed it, he begins to sink.

Matthew 14:29-31 tells the story this way: So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.  (30)  But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.  (31)  Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt Me?”

BRETHREN, WHEN YOU GET YOUR EYES OFF OF JESUS YOU’LL GET SCARED EVERYTIME. LOOKING AT BAD CIRCUMSTANCES IS BAD FOR YOUR FAITH. FOCUSING ON WHAT’S HARD WILL MAKE THE TASK EVEN HARDER. THINKING ABOUT THE FEARFUL WILL MAKE YOU FEARFUL. AND FEAR WILL KEEP YOU FROM DOING WHAT YOU’VE SET OUT TO DO. IT’LL STOP YOU AND SINK YOU.

Do you wanna know how to do the difficult? Just do it and keep your eyes focused on Jesus. Concentrate on getting the job done.

I know that’s easier said than done. But I’m no armchair theologian. I’ve been there and I know what it’s like to be really, really scared. But I tell you this. Like the disciples rowing frantically and fearfully in the sea, Jesus will come to you in the midst of your fears and help you! You’re never alone! You belong to Him and He will not leave you on your own. He’ll always come to the rescue. Let these truths sink into your heart and mind and let them anchor your ship in the troubled storms of life.

The alternative isn’t pretty. If you take your eyes off of the Lord and look at all the obstacles, difficulties, and fears that the devil’s putting in your way, you’re gonna get scared. Naturally. And when you’re scared you’ll begin to lose your faith. You’ll start doubting God. Friends, YOU CAN’T DO THE DIFFICULT WHEN YOU’RE FEARFUL AND DOUBTFUL. THE DIFFICULT CAN BE DONE ONLY IF YOU BELIEVE AND KEEP ON BELIEVING. YOU’LL LOSE FAITH WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING AT CIRCUMSTANCES INSTEAD OF CHRIST.

Keep your eyes, mind, and entire being focused on Jesus and the mission and you’ll accomplish the mission. As long as you do that, like Peter walking on the water, all the bad stuff that’s happening around you, trying to stop you, will not be able to stop you from accomplishing your mission. You will succeed when your mind and entire being are set on obeying the Lord.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you were encouraged and emboldened in the Lord. I pray God help you stay focused and give you the grace to look at nothing else but Him. He’ll get you through as long as you’re depending and focused on Him. God bless you dearly.

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DOING THE DIFFICULT: JUST DO IT

November 17, 2013 at 7:40 AM (Christian Living, Doing The Difficult)
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INTRODUCTION

Some people love challenges. They’ll look at something new. Something hard. And they’ll take up the challenge of doing it just to get the satisfaction or thrill of knowing they can do something they’ve never done before. Something hard. Challenging. Exhilarating.

 Just so you know, I am not that way at all. I am 1,000,000,000,000% a comfort-zone type of guy. I like doing the doable. That means it’s easy and doesn’t demand a whole lot of  my time, effort, or thinking. When it comes to what’s new, difficult, or challenging, you can generally count me out, folks. I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole!  

 I won’t do the difficult—not unless I’m forced to—because life already has too many difficulties and challenges. I don’t need to  add to them. I don’t need any more trials or challenges!  I’m heading into my golden years and I love to relax, take it easy, and do what I love doing most. Can you guess what that is? It’s studying  the Bible and writing. I just love spending time with the Lord because He talks to me a lot of times—not audibly, but in my spirit—and He tells me lots of really neat stuff. Stuff that I’ve just got to share with you. This blog is a perfect example of the stuff God gives me when I spend time with Him. I love Him. I love what I’m doing. But I dread doing the difficult.

 Here’s a question for you. When the Lord asks you to do something difficult…no, strike that. When the Lord tells you to do something difficult, something you really don’t want to do, something you think is impossible, something that’s a Are you out of your mind? I can’t do that! type of thing; what do you do?

 Just so you know, you’re not the only one who’s had to do something really really hard. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there and done that. The biblical characters weren’t any different from us. In fact, they were exactly like us. Human. I’d like to draw on their life’s experiences and, from beyond the grave, as it were, let them share with us what we’ve got to do when the Lord gives us our Mission I M possible. By God’s grace, we can do what God’s counting on us to do! Here’s how.

JUST DO IT

David the King woke up one morning and got this hankering to number all the guys who could fight in his army (1 Chronicles 21:1). Poor guy didn’t know it was the devil who gave him this brilliant idea. (So you think the devil doesn’t give you any bright ideas? You’d better read verse 1 again. He does!) Anyways, Joab, David’s lead General, didn’t think this was a good idea. Unless God told you to count, you just didn’t count. That’s because you’d soon put your trust in your numbers and army to save you, not the Lord. So the General protested the order. The King, however, being the King, prevailed and Joab went out reluctantly and took the census.

Well, when it was all said and done, David felt guilty about what he’d done. Joab was right. He shouldn’t have made the head count. But it was too late. The numbers were in.

Now you would think that God wouldn’t punish anyone who felt bad about what he did. But sin carries a price and a consequence. When we choose to sin we’re automatically bound to suffer sin’s consequences. It’s the law of cause and effect. The law of sowing and reaping.

God doesn’t always do this, but in this particular case with David He gave David a choice of what punishment he’d have to suffer: (1) three years of famine; or (2) three months running from his enemies; or (3) three days of plague (1 Chronicles 21:11-12).

David knew God to be a very merciful God. His mercies are soooo great! David’s thinking God will be merciful. The plague can’t be all that bad. Sure, people are gonna get sick. Some might even die. But God’s soooo merciful and He’s not gonna let the plague get out of hand. That just won’t happen! He’s merciful! So, after thinking things through, David chose the three-day plague as his punishment.

To his horror and shocked surprise, the plague was truly and unimaginably catastrophic. On the third day of the plague, seventy-thousand people were dead on his account! Seventy-thousand! And God wasn’t done yet. The angel of destruction was headed to Jerusalem to finish his work when God had a change of heart and called for an end to the destruction. Were it not for that, thousands more would have died!

Seventy-thousand dead clearly wasn’t what David was expecting! He was stunned! This wasn’t how it was supposed to be! God’s merciful! What happened to His mercy? When David grasped the awful reality that confronted him, he, I’m sure quite bitterly, cried out to God and said, I’m the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let Your anger fall against me and my family (1 Chronicles 21:17). I can so hear, and feel, the anguish of his soul. It’s not easy living with the knowledge that you’ve killed seventy-thousand innocent folks.

David, I’m sure, isn’t feeling very good right now. He’s probably got a real attitude towards God. He’s human, remember. Just like us. He’s probably feeling really angry and ugly with God.

Here comes the truly incredible, difficult part. Do you know what God tells David to do? Build Me an altar and worship Me (1 Chronicles 21:18).

David’s probably saying, You’ve got to be kidding me! Are You for real? I’m feeling really really ticked right now. And You want me to worship You? How hard is that? Ever tried singing a song, let alone praising God, when you’re ballistic or in the depths of depression? God, we just don’t do that sort of thing. At least not right now. Wait till I calm down and feel better. I’ll worship you later. When I feel like it.

David’s feeling really bad. You know it. You feel his pain. He really doesn’t want to build an altar. He’s not in the mood. But he knows he’s got to do it because that’s the only way he’s gonna stop the killing. He disobeyed the Lord once and seventy-thousand folks died, no thanks to him. David can’t disobey the Lord again and have more innocents die on his account.

So reluctantly, tearfully, David builds the altar and offers a burnt and a peace offering to the Lord (1 Chronicles 21:26). Just like in Elijah’s day, fire came down from Heaven and consumed the offerings. God told the angel to stop the killing. And when David saw what was happening, do you know what he did? He offered more sacrifices to the Lord…only, this time, I’m very sure, he did so willingly with a heart full of holy fear and gratitude that the killing was done (1 Chronicles 21:28).

Folks, when the Lord tells you to do something that you just absolutely dread to do, can’t possibly do; just do it. You can do it. Otherwise God wouldn’t have told you to do it. Zip that lip. Get those attitudes right. And do it!  The consequences of not doing it are not gonna be pretty. You’ll regret disobeying the Lord. I guarantee you that. I can even hear a chorus of  Amens coming from beyond the grave. So buckle down. Chin up. And just do it!

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DOING THE DIFFICULT: DON’T LET PRIDE STOP YOU

September 8, 2013 at 9:23 AM (Christian Living, Doing The Difficult)
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INTRODUCTION

Some people love challenges. They’ll look at something new. Something hard. And they’ll take up the challenge of doing it just to get the satisfaction or thrill of knowing they can do something they’ve never done before. Something hard. Challenging. Exhilirating.

Just so you know, I am not that way at all. I am 1,000,000,000,000% a comfort-zone type of guy. I like doing the doable. That means it’s easy and doesn’t demand a whole lot of  my time, effort, or thinking. When it comes to what’s new, difficult, or challenging, you can generally count me out, folks. I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole! 

I won’t do the difficult—not unless I’m forced to—because life already has too many difficulties and challenges. I don’t need to  add to them. I don’t need any more trials or challenges!  I’m heading into my golden years and I love to relax, take it easy, and do what I love doing most. Can you guess what that is? It’s studying  the Bible and writing. I just love spending time with the Lord because He talks to me a lot of times—not audibly, but in my spirit—and He tells me lots of really neat stuff. Stuff that I’ve just got to share with you. This blog is a perfect example of the stuff God gives me when I spend time with Him. I love Him. I love what I’m doing. But I dread doing the difficult.

Here’s a question for you. When the Lord asks you to do something difficult…no, strike that. When the Lord tells you to do something difficult, something you really don’t want to do, something you think is impossible, something that’s a Are you out of your mind? I can’t do that! type of thing; what do you do?

Just so you know, you’re not the only one who’s had to do something really really hard. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there and done that. The biblical characters weren’t any different from us. In fact, they were exactly like us. Human. I’d like to draw on their life’s experiences and, from beyond the grave, as it were, let them share with us what we’ve got to do when the Lord gives us our Mission I M possible. By God’s grace, we can do what God’s counting on us to do! Here’s how.

DON’T LET PRIDE STOP YOU

Pride can be a real motivator for achievement or success. If you’ve ever shown off or bragged about something you did (who of us hasn’t) then you know the power of pride to spur you—not only to get things done, but to get them done in truly braggable fashion.

Do you know that  PRIDE CAN ALSO KEEP YOU FROM GETTING THINGS DONE? IT CAN STOP YOU FROM OBEYING GOD, ESPECIALLY WHEN GOD’S PRESSING YOU TO DO SOMETHING REALLY HARD. SOMETHING REALLY HUMBLING OR HUMILIATING. Here’s a case in point.

Nathan was an Old Testament prophet. He isn’t ranked with the big-name prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. But he served and prophesied during the reigns of Israel’s two greatest kings, King David and King Solomon.

Now King David was one of Israel’s most outstanding and victorious military heroes. He conquered and expropriated so much of the enemy’s territories that Israel was the biggest that it ever was, territorially speaking, when David was on the throne.

Anyways, with all his conquests, plunders, and consequent wealth, David built for himself the nicest palace that any king or ruler of Israel had up to that point in time. It was so nice, so luxurious, that he started feeling bad that God didn’t have as nice a house as he did. The Tabernacle was a tent. A portable tent. And David really wanted to build God something more permanent. A House made of stone and of the finest and costliest of  goods that was truly befitting and deserving of the great God that he served. So David approached Nathan with the idea: Hey, Nathan. Get a load of this. Here I am living in a beautiful cedar palace. And the Ark of God’s out there in a tent (2 Samuel 7:2).

Nathan thought about it for a moment and said (2 Samuel 7:3), Wow! You’re right! That’s a great idea, David. Go for it! I know the Lord’s with you. The Lord truly was with David. But saying it the way Nathan said it was a Hebraic way of saying, God’s with you, He’s given you this desire to build Him a House, so go ahead and do it. Just as God helped you conquer the nations and gave you rest from all your wars, so God will be with you and help you get this House built. Logically, circumstantially, and historically, everything that Nathan said made perfect sense. Besides that, David’s desire was noble. It was for God’s glory. David’s plan had God’s Name written all over it!

The only problem was, that wasn’t what God told Nathan to say. As a prophet, Nathan was supposed to wait on God, or go to God, for His take on things. A prophet said what God told him to say. And God didn’t tell Nathan to tell David to go ahead and build Him a House. Nathan spoke in the flesh: he was saying what Nathan wanted to say, not what God him told to say. It’s a perfect illustration of how something that sounds so good and right and godly, or of the Lord, can be anything but. What sounds good to us may not be good to God. What looks right to us may not be right to God.

Sometimes, a “good” idea to us may not necessarily be bad because it’s really bad. Sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. David wanted to build God a permanent House of Worship: a House made of stone, not of perishable skins or tents. Truth was, God wanted such a House built too, but it wasn’t for David to build it (1 Chronicles 22:8). That task would go to David’s son, Solomon (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Now wasn’t the right time for God’s House to be built. So the bad idea really was a matter of bad timing. A good idea can be good, but now is not the right time to implement it.

Getting back to Nathan, he went back home and that night the Lord gave him a talking-to: Go and tell King David that I’m not gonna let him build Me My House (2 Samuel 7:4-17).

This is the really, really difficult part. Nathan’s a prophet of the Lord. He’s known as the guy that God speaks to. So when he’s speaking by Divine utterance people automatically trust that what he’s saying is from God. Nathan is going to suffer a real setback to his credibility and believability. This misstep in the flesh is gonna cost him the loss of the people’s confidence and respect.

Then consider who Nathan has to go to and apologize. If it was a friend, a peon, a nobody, an admission of wrong and an apology isn’t that big a deal. It’s humbling. But it’s doable. But Nathan is dealing with the King. He’s the King’s spiritual confidante and advisor. The King trusts and respects him. David holds him in honor and esteem. Nathan’s got the King all pumped up about his plans to build the Temple. The King may already be working on it. The King’s probly told His Palace staff and the High Priest about the forthcoming Temple. How do you go to the King and tell him you were wrong? That you spoke out of turn. That it wasn’t God who spoke to you. How do you tell the King who’s set on building God a grand and glorious House to put his plans on hold? How do you tell him not to do what he’s got his heart and mind set on doing? How would the King respond? What will the King do to you? What will he think of you?

Are you getting the drift here? Nathan’s got a very, very difficult task ahead of him. It’s gonna be humiliating and humbling. He’s gonna have to swallow his pride, humble himself, go to the King personally, and tell him face-to-face that he was wrong. No easy thing to do. In fact, it can’t be done if we insist on being proud. IN A MISSION I M POSSIBLE LIKE THIS, OBEYING GOD CAN ONLY BE DONE IF WE SET OUR PRIDE ASIDE, SWALLOW IT, CRUCIFY IT, EAT HUMBLE PIE, AND SUFFER WHATEVER HUMILIATION MAY COME OUR WAY.   

Friends, don’t let pride stand in the way of your obedience to God. Pride will get you into more trouble with God. Humbling yourself isn’t gonna kill you. It’s gonna kill your pride, which is exactly what needs to happen. Humble yourself, ask God to give you favor, He’ll give you all the grace you need (James 4:6), and you’ll come out just fine. In fact, a little higher than before (James 4:10).

Doing God’s will is incredibly hard, in fact, it really is a Mission Impossible, if you’re proud. So how do you do the difficult? With God’s grace. And that comes by being humble.

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DOING THE DIFFICULT: FACE YOUR FEARS

June 23, 2013 at 9:57 AM (Christian Living, Doing The Difficult)
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Some people love challenges. They’ll look at something new. Something hard. And they’ll take up the challenge of doing it just to get the satisfaction or thrill of knowing they can do something they’ve never done before. Something hard. Challenging. Exhilirating.

Just so you know, I am not that way at all. I am 1,000,000,000,000% a comfort-zone type of guy. I like doing the doable. That means it’s easy and doesn’t demand a whole lot of  my time, effort, or thinking. When it comes to what’s new, difficult, or challenging, you can generally count me out, folks. I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole! 

I won’t do the difficult—not unless I’m forced to—because life already has too many difficulties and challenges. I don’t need to  add to them. I don’t need any more trials or challenges!  I’m heading into my golden years and I love to relax, take it easy, and do what I love doing most. Can you guess what that is? It’s studying  the Bible and writing. I just love spending time with the Lord because He talks to me a lot of times—not audibly, but in my spirit—and He tells me lots of really neat stuff. Stuff that I’ve just got to share with you. This blog is a perfect example of the stuff God gives me when I spend time with Him. I love Him. I love what I’m doing. But I dread doing the difficult.

Here’s a question for you. When the Lord asks you to do something difficult…no, strike that. When the Lord tells you to do something difficult, something you really don’t want to do, something you think is impossible, something that’s a Are you out of your mind? I can’t do that! type of thing; what do you do?

Just so you know, you’re not the only one who’s had to do something really really hard. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there and done that. The biblical characters weren’t any different from us. In fact, they were exactly like us. Human. I’d like to draw on their life’s experiences and, from beyond the grave, as it were, let them share with us what we’ve got to do when the Lord gives us our Mission I M possible. By God’s grace, we can do what God’s counting on us to do! Here’s how.

FACE YOUR FEARS AND CONQUER THEM

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob was a supplanter (Genesis 27:36). He was crafty and cunning. A cheat. And definitely deceptive. He got Esau to sell him his birthright for a bowl of pottage (Genesis 25:29-34). Then he tricked his dad into giving him the blessing of the firstborn that was meant for Esau (Genesis 27). The guy definitely had a knack for ripping his brother off! Esau was so incensed by his brother’s trickery that he determined to kill him. That’s when Jacob fled to Haran where his mother was from.

Fast forward about forty years. Jacob has amassed a humongous family with humongous flocks of sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, and oxen, with gobs of maids and servants to boot.  Jacob, you could say, had it all. Except home. He was missing home.  

One day, the Lord spoke to Jacob. It’s time to head back home (Genesis 31:3). Jacob couldn’t have been more relieved! He’d been wanting to leave Haran for years. Now, with God’s permission and blessings, Jacob could finally leave.

Of course, the down side of going home was Jacob would eventually have to face the wrath of his brother.  Had Esau cooled off by now? Or was he still intent on killing Jacob? Sure, Jacob was going home. But the joy of going home carried with it the very real likelihood that he was going home for his own funeral. Jacob was plump scared—not only for his own life, but for the lives of his wives and children. He was one very, very scared fellow!

So what do you do when you’re faced with a difficult, impossible task and you’re plump scared to do it? I mean, your life’s at stake. You could die doing it. Is it worth doing something that’s gonna end up killing you? Is God really the One who’s talking to you? Or is the devil leading you into a death trap? A thousand doubts and questions race through your mind. And your fear looms ever larger, ever stronger, beckoning you to back off.

God spoke to Jacob. There was no way Jacob could doubt that. He had to obey God! So, first things first, he packed up his stuff, got his flocks and family together, and headed out of Haran. The lesson? WHEN GOD TELLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE PLUMP SCARED TO DO, START DOING IT ONE STEP AT A TIME.  God will help you. You’ll still have your fears. Jacob left Haran a scaredy-cat. He didn’t wait for fear to go before he obeyed God. He headed home still wracked with fear. But he still headed home! Friends, when God tells you to do something that you’re scared to do, start doing it!

Next, don’t ignore your fears. Face them. Deal with them. Get God to help you overcome them.

Let me backtrack momentarily and tell you something that I forgot to tell you earlier. When God told Jacob to head home He also assured Jacob that He would go with him (Genesis 31:3). God would make the journey with Jacob. And, when it came time for Jacob to meet up with Esau, God would be with him. But notice that even with God’s word and assurance, Jacob was still scared! It’s like God’s Word doesn’t do anything to allay or rid us of our fears. So what do we do when we’re scared? Like Jacob, we keep walking home.

Jacob comes to a place where he sees an encampment of angels (Genesis 32:1-2). He’s not imagining anything. He sees the angels with his own eyes! That’s God’s way of assuring him that everything’s gonna be alright. The angels are watching out for him! Is Jacob scared now? Amazingly, like so many of us, he’s still scared! But he doesn’t turn back! He keeps heading home.

Brethren, when you’re wracked with fear, keep on obeying God. Sometimes, His words and His angels—the signs He gives us—aren’t doing the trick. If you’re still scared, don’t count yourself down and out. Jacob had every reason not to fear. But he was still afraid! He was, in every way, just like you and me!

Getting closer to home, Jacob decides to do a smart thing and send a delegation ahead of him to let Esau know that he was coming (Genesis 32:4-6). The tip-off doesn’t go over too good. Esau heads out with four-hundred of his men to meet up with Jacob. It looks like the makings of war. Now Jacob was really, really, really scared!

He decides to try and pacify his brother’s wrath. He sends Esau three separate droves of flocks—over 550 animals—that he hopes will soften  Esau’s heart and avert bloodshed (Genesis 32:13-20).

He spends the night alone and ends up wrestling with an angel (Genesis 32:24-30). Now you would think that an angel would’ve had Jacob pinned down within two seconds of the first round. But Jacob’s filled with fear and adrenaline: he’s so afraid of Esau that he’s intent on getting a blessing from God. What’s really amazing beyond belief is Jacob wins the match! He fought, as it were, with God. And won!

Now if you fought with an angel and won, you would think that any fear you had would just evaporate into thin air. You’d be so pumped that, in vanquishing an angel you would’ve vanquished your fear. But even after beating God, Jacob is still scared! Like Jacob, there are times when it seems like some fears just can’t be conquered no matter what!

Do you know what Jacob does? Even though he’s scared out of his wits, he continues walking towards his fear! Friends, you can’t shirk or run from your fears! You’ve got to face them. And when it comes time to stand face to face with your fear, trust your life and well-being into God’s hands. GOD GAVE YOU A PROMISE OF HIS PRESENCE AND PROTECTION. AND HE’LL MAKE GOOD ON THAT PROMISE NO MATTER HOW AFRAID YOU ARE AND NO MATTER HOW BAD IT LOOKS FOR YOU. YOU’VE JUST GOT TO TRUST GOD, FACE YOUR FARS, AND NOT RUN!

You know how the story ends. Jacob didn’t know how it would end exactly. But to his  welcome relief, Esau came running up to him, hugged him, and kissed him. There they stood, for the longest time, in each other’s arms, crying. The hurts of the past were healed and forgiven.

Jacob did the hardest thing he’d ever done. He faced his fear. And even though his fear never left him—it stayed with him right up the very end; God was with Jacob, He did a work of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation in Esau’s heart; and this manifest work and miracle of God put an end to Jacob’s fear.

So what do you do when God tells you to do something that’s very very hard for you to do? DON’T LET FEAR STOP YOU FROM OBEYING GOD. Face your fear. Obey God. And  when you’re tempted to run or turn back, listen to Jacob: YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU’RE AFRAID TO DO! GOD WILL NEVER TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU CAN’T DO! God will help you! But He’ll help you only while you’re obeying Him. Believe it or not, you’ll eventually quit being afraid. The fear will leave you. But only when you successfully complete your Mission I M possible.

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DOING THE DIFFICULT: BELIEVE AND OBEY

May 25, 2013 at 10:46 AM (Christian Living, Doing The Difficult)
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Some people love challenges. They’ll look at something new. Something hard. And they’ll take up the challenge of doing it just to get the satisfaction or thrill of knowing they can do something they’ve never done before. Something hard. Challenging. Exhilirating.

Just so you know, I am not that way at all. I am 1,000,000,000,000% a comfort-zone type of guy. I like doing the doable. That means it’s easy and doesn’t demand a whole lot of  my time, effort, or thinking. When it comes to what’s new, difficult, or challenging, you can generally count me out, folks. I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole! 

I won’t do the difficult—not unless I’m forced to—because life already has too many difficulties and challenges. I don’t need to  add to them. I don’t need any more trials or challenges!  I’m heading into my golden years and I love to relax, take it easy, and do what I love doing most. Can you guess what that is? It’s studying  the Bible and writing. I just love spending time with the Lord because He talks to me a lot of times—not audibly, but in my spirit—and He tells me lots of really neat stuff. Stuff that I’ve just got to share with you. This blog is a perfect example of the stuff God gives me when I spend time with Him. I love Him. I love what I’m doing. But I dread doing the difficult.

Here’s a question for you. When the Lord asks you to do something difficult…no, strike that. When the Lord tells you to do something difficult, something you really don’t want to do, something you think is impossible, something that’s a Are you out of your mind? I can’t do that! type of thing; what do you do?

Just so you know, you’re not the only one who’s had to do some something really really hard. We’ve all been there and done that. The biblical characters weren’t any different from us. In fact, they were exactly like us: human. I’d like to draw on their life’s experiences and, from beyond the grave, as it were, let them share with us what we’ve got to do when the Lord gives us our Mission I M possible. By God’s grace, we can do what God’s counting on us to do! Here’s how.

BELIEVE AND OBEY 

Abraham, as you know, believed and waited on God for a long, long time to have a child by his beloved wife Sarah, who happened to be barren. After a span of twenty-five years, God finally came through and Isaac was born. (So you think you’re having to wait a long time for God to answer your prayer?)

Fast forward in time. Isaac is now a young man. No one knows for sure exactly how old he was at the time, but it’s likely that he was a teenager, even likelier that he was in his twenties or early thirties.

Anyhow, the Lord spoke to Abraham one evening and told him to go to the land of Moriah and offer his beloved son Isaac as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there (Genesis 22:1-2). It was a test, of course. But Abraham didn’t know that. As far as he was concerned, God told him to go to Moriah, kill his son, and burn him up as an offering to the Lord.

When God tells us to do something He doesn’t always tell us why. He doesn’t give us explanations. In Abraham’s case, He said just enough to worry me. I mean, if it was God talking to me, I would’ve preferred God said, Go to Moriah and take Isaac with you. I’ll let you know what I want you to do once you get there. Sure, that would puzzle me and get my curiosity going. But I wouldn’t  have had to wrestle with the agony of knowing that I’d be going there to kill my beloved son. What an awful trip that must have been for Abraham!

If I was God, I wouldn’t have told Abraham about the offering part. It would make believing and obeying me a very difficult thing to do. And I definitely want Abraham to believe and obey me. So I’m not gonna make it hard for him to do that. Hence, all I’m gonna tell him is, Go to Moriah and take Isaac with you. Just goes to show I don’t understand God sometimes. Maybe a lot of times. But, thank God, He’s God, I’m not, and He knows exactly what He’s doing!

Notice how Abraham responds to his Mission I M possible: he gets up the next morning, loads the firewood on a donkey, and, heavy-heartedly I’m sure, heads to Moriah with Isaac and a couple of his slaves in tow (Genesis 22:3). What’s so amazing, outstanding, and commendable to me is the guy obeyed the Lord!

If it was anyone of us, we would’ve had lots of reason not to obey. That couldn’t have been the Lord who told me to kill my son. It was a bad dream. It was the devil. God would never tell me to do anything like that. Murder is forbidden. It’s completely out of character for God to tell me to do something that’s sinful or unlawful. No way. It wasn’t God. I’m not doing it! 

Factor in the fact that you have only one son that you prayed and begged and waited for twenty-five years to have him, (okay, Abraham had another son by another woman, but as far as his beloved Sarah is concerned, Isaac is their only son), you love him more than life itself, and it’s a pretty done deal: you’re not gonna obey whoever it was who told you to kill your son.

Abraham obeyed the Lord because he knew the Lord’s voice and he believed the Lord. Abraham heard enough times from the Lord to know His voice.

When you’re walking close with the Lord, when you’re following close after the Shepherd, you’ll know His voice (John 10:4). YOU CAN’T KNOW GOD’S VOICE IF YOU’RE NOT FOLLOWING HIM CLOSELY. IF HE’S A STRANGER TO YOU.

Lots of people don’t obey God because they don’t know His voice; they can’t tell if it’s really God who’s talking to them.

If God told you to do something, would you know that it was God talking to you? Do you recognize God’s voice? Abraham did.

Now when you hear from God you have a couple of choices to make: you either believe Him or not. And you either obey Him or not. Abraham obeyed because he believed it was God who spoke to him.

Notice that what God told Abraham to do really didn’t make sense to Abraham. God would never tell us to murder or kill our child. But the fact of the matter is, this is exactly what God told Abraham to do! Abraham knew the voice of God. He could not doubt that he’d heard from God.

And so, even though he didn’t understand why God told him to sacrifice his beloved son, even though he didn’t like the idea of doing it, even though he didn’t agree with the idea of killing his son; Abraham nevertheless obeyed God because God said it. God required it. And Abraham believed God. FOR A CHILD OF GOD, OBEDIENCE IS NEVER AN OPTION.

Notice the timing or immediacy of Abraham’s obedience: he obeyed God right away. When he woke up the next morning (Genesis 22:3).

Brethren, IF YOU WAIT TOO LONG TO OBEY GOD IT GETS A LOT HARDER TO OBEY HIM. THE LONGER YOU WAIT, THE LESS INCLINED YOU’LL BE TO OBEY GOD. When you procrastinate and postpone or delay your obedience you’re giving yourself and the devil time to talk you out of obedience. Obedience is hard enough without helping the devil make it even harder yet! PROCRASTINATION BREEDS DOUBT AND DISOBEDIENCE. So learn this much from Abraham: WHEN GOD TELLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING DO IT RIGHT AWAY! PROCRASTINATION TURNS A MISSION I M POSSIBLE INTO A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

Can you imagine how intolerably difficult it would be to kill your only beloved son? Talk about a crisis of faith and confidence! That would probably have killed my faith in God. No way would I ever kill my son! Would you? If you were Abraham, would you have obeyed God?

The redeeming thing here that, I believe, made it just a tad bit easier for Abraham to obey the Lord is what Abraham believed: he believed that even if he killed his beloved Isaac, God would raise him back to life and together they both would return back home to Beersheba (Hebrews 11:19 with Genesis 22:5).

Now keep in mind that, to this point in time, no one’s been raised back to life. No one’s come back from the grave or the dead. It’s never happened before. Yet, Abraham believed that something that’s never happened before would happen: God would raise Isaac back to life! It was this faith, I believe, that enabled Abraham to obey the Lord.

Of course, you know how the story ended. Abraham didn’t have to kill Isaac after all. Just seconds away from killing his son, God provided a ram and Abraham got to offer a ram instead of his son as a burnt offering to the Lord (Genesis 22:11-13).

So what’s the lesson here? If you’re God’s child, God at some point in time is gonna have you do something that’s intolerably, incomprehensibly difficult. When that time comes remember Abraham. None of what God told you to do may make sense. You may not like it. You may not agree with it. And you definitely don’t want to do it!

But if you know you’ve heard from God, then believe Him and obey Him. Right away! Understanding is nice, but you don’t have to understand everything before you believe. Knowing how it’ll all end would be a big help to get you to obey, but knowing how it’ll end isn’t a requirement for obedience. WE OBEY GOD BECAUSE HE’S GOD. WE BELIEVE HIM. THAT’S HOW THE MISSION I M POSSIBLE IS DONE.

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DOING THE DIFFICULT: SURRENDER TO GOD

April 20, 2013 at 11:22 AM (Christian Living, Doing The Difficult)
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INTRODUCTION

Some people love challenges. They’ll look at something new. Something hard. And they’ll take up the challenge of doing it just to get the satisfaction or thrill of knowing they can do something they’ve never done before. Something hard. Challenging. Exhilirating.

Just so you know, I am not that way at all. I am 1,000,000,000,000% a comfort-zone type of guy. I like doing the doable. That means it’s easy and doesn’t demand a whole lot of  my time, effort, or thinking. When it comes to what’s new, difficult, or challenging, you can generally count me out, folks. I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole! 

I won’t do the difficult—not unless I’m forced to—because life already has too many difficulties and challenges. I don’t need to  add to them. I don’t need any more trials or challenges!  I’m heading into my golden years and I love to relax, take it easy, and do what I love doing most. Can you guess what that is? It’s studying  the Bible and writing. I just love spending time with the Lord because He talks to me a lot of times—not audibly, but in my spirit—and He tells me lots of really neat stuff. Stuff that I’ve just got to share with you because, in my heart, I know He’s talking to all of us. This blog is a perfect example of the stuff God gives me when I spend time with Him. I love Him. I love what I’m doing. But I dread doing the difficult.

Here’s a question for you. When the Lord asks you to do something difficult…no, strike that. When the Lord tells you to do something difficult, something you really don’t want to do, something you think is impossible, something that’s a Are you out of your mind? I can’t do that! type of thing; what do you do?

Just so you know, you’re not the only one who’s had to do some something really, really hard. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there and done that. The biblical characters weren’t any different from us. In fact, they were exactly like us. Human. I’d like to draw on their life’s experiences and, from beyond the grave, as it were, let them share with us what we’ve got to do when the Lord gives us our Mission I M possible. By God’s grace, we can do what God’s counting on us to do! Here’s how.

SURRENDER TO GOD

Not everything that’s hard to do is hard to do. Huh? Run that by me again. You heard me. Not everything that’s hard to do is hard to do. Sometimes the easiest things, the doable things that we’ve done countless times before, can be the hardest thing to do.

Sickness is a good example. I was in bed for six weeks and when I stood up to go from one room to another, or wash a hand full of plates, I was so tuckered I had to sit down immediately. Being sick, weak, or diseased is a perfect illustration of how the doable things in life can be very difficult to do.

What I’m talking about here, though, is when we have an attitude problem. You ever have a kid who thought that taking out the trash, or cleaning her room, or mowing the lawn, was out-of-this-world impossible for them to do? We can relate, can’t we? Well, like kids sometimes, okay, maybe lots of times, we’re not in the mood. We’re not surrendered or submitted to God. We want what we want and when God tells us otherwise, wow, it’s the hardest thing to obey God.

When God tells us to do something that we really don’t want to do, if we’re His children, we can rest assured that God is eventually gonna have His own way. He has His Ways and Means Committee and He knows exactly what He has to do to get us to change our mind and get us to obey Him. Jonah is a perfect example. If we’re stubborn and hardheaded enough it may take God years to change our mind. Years with a lot of chastisements and convictions. But for those of us who are a little more supple and who don’t enjoy God’s chastening, it doesn’t take a whole lot of time or persuasion for us to change our mind and agree to do things God’s way.

When we’ve got our mind made up and God tells us to do otherwise, the first and smart thing to do is  get alone with God in prayer. You can try and change God’s mind if you like, but it’s not gonna work. Pray instead for a change of your heart and mind. Surrender your will to God’s will. And ask God for the grace, strength, and desire to do His will.

  • I  love the promise of Philippians 2:13. It lets us know that, when we don’t want to do God’s will, or when we think we lack the power or strength to do His will, God does something to us—He changes our mind—so that we become willing to do His will. Here’s how the verse reads, For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
  • Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can pray and ask God for grace, mercy, and help whenever we need it. And the really neat thing about it is, we’ll get it! God will give us all the strength we need to do His will. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. I love the word there. Don’t overlook it. You get God’s grace and mercy there. Where? At His Throne. That means in prayer. You’ve done a lot of bellyaching. Have you gone to God and prayed? You get the grace when you pray.

Do you think God’s really being unreasonable with you and asking you to do something you can’t possibly do? I mean no offence, dear friend, but you’re wrong. WHEN GOD TELLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING HE GIVES YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DO THE JOB: a willing heart, a willing mind, and all the strength you need to get the job done. If you have none of the above, then it’s yours for the asking! This is one prayer God will definitely answer!

Jesus came to earth knowing all along what He had to do. He knew His life would eventually take Him to Calvary. That’s where His life, His work, would end as far as the earthly aspect of His mission was concerned. It would end with a death that was violent, painful, and horrible-beyond-description-or-imagination. It was a death that was truly abhorrent in every way. And feared. When you factor in the spiritual dimension of His death–the weight of the world’s sins on Him, the hellish punishment of everyone’s sins, and the Father abandoning Him for a time (which, to that point in time, the Father had never done before), then you can imagine a little of the dread or apprehension that Calvary was to Jesus.

Moments before He was arrested, Jesus got alone with the Father and prayed, Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from Me (Matthew 26:39). He was talking about the cup of suffering that the Father had appointed for Him to drink. There was a part of Jesus in His humanity that didn’t want to go through the suffering. It was a very difficult thing for Him to do and His first inclination was to not do it. I don’t think I’m wrong or blasphemous to say that Jesus didn’t want to do it. Let this cup pass from Me sure makes it look like Jesus wanted out.

But, and here’s the important thing, even though Jesus didn’t want to go through with Calvary, He wanted one thing more than His desire or will and that was He wanted to obey the Father. Obeying God trumped all the thoughts, emotions, and desires that He was feeling at the time. More than wanting out of Calvary, He wanted to obey His Father and He resigned Himself to obeying Him. He surrendered His own will to submit to, and do, His Father’s will. 

Remember. This scene was played out three times (Matthew 26:39-43). Jesus wrestled and pleaded with the Father three times. We’ve done that ourselves. We’ve tried to change God’s mind about something several times before. But we finally gave up and surrendered to His will when we saw God wasn’t budging. Like I said, you can try and change God’s mind if you like. It’s not gonna work.

Remember also that Gethsemane came before Calvary. Before Jesus suffered He surrendered. Submission preceded obedience.

Beloved, SURRENDER AND SUBMISSION COME BEFORE OBEDIENCE. Some of you can’t obey God, some aren’t obeying God, because you haven’t surrendered your will to God.

GOD ISN’T ASKING YOU TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. EVERYTHING HE ASKS YOU TO DO IS DOABLE. YOU CAN DO IT!

But, like I said at the start, even the easiest or most doable of things become really hard when our attitude stinks. 

So if obeying God is a really, really difficult thing for you to do, chances are you need to surrender your will to God. You have to go to your Gethsemane first and say Not my will, but Thine be done. Brethren, you can do God’s will. But only when you set your will aside and realize that DOING GOD’S WILL IS THE BEST POSSIBLE THING YOU CAN DO.  God bless you and help you do His will.

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