Experiencing God Day By Day (32 page)

“What is this thing that you are doing for the people?
Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand
before you from morning until evening?”

Exodus 18:14

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n our zeal to please God and advance His kingdom, we Christians often take on responsibilities God never intended us to have. One of the great challenges of the Christian life is determining what God does
not
want us to do! Sometimes our good intentions cause more harm than good.

Moses was aware of the need for someone to settle disputes among the Israelites. Someone had to help those former slaves learn how to live together as the people of God, so Moses took it upon himself to meet this need. Long lines of unhappy people, hoping to have their cases heard, stood before Moses each day. Moses spent day after day carrying the weight of his nation's problems on his shoulders. Finally his father-in-law, an outsider, witnessed what Moses was doing and challenged the wisdom of his actions. Moses was taking on more than he could handle. He was wearing himself out trying to do what was impossible for one person. In doing this service alone, Moses was robbing others of an opportunity to serve the Lord. He was also doing a disservice to his people, who otherwise could have had their issues resolved much sooner.

When you become aware of a need, do not automatically assume God wants you to meet it. The only reason to perform ministry is that God clearly tells you it is His will. If you are feeling overwhelmed by all that you are doing, you are probably doing more than God has asked. Pray carefully about the assignments you take on, so that you don’t rob yourself and others of God's best.

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that
I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you;
but I will teach you the good and the right way.

1 Samuel 12:23

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t can be tempting at times to give up on God's people ! They are so imperfect and can be so sinful, yet they are His people. Samuel had thoroughly warned the Israelites of the dangers in appointing a king over Israel. Yet they wanted to be like the nations around them, insisting that they were willing to pay any price. Almost as soon as the people were granted their desire, they recognized their sin. But it was too late. What was Samuel to do? They had ignored his warnings. Now they wanted him to continue to minister to them. It would seem appropriate for Samuel to abandon them and allow them to suffer the consequences of their actions.

Samuel knew, as Jesus knew, that God sends His servants to the sick, not the healthy (Matt. 9:12). Samuel did not take the people's response as a rejection of him but as an indication of their walk with God. Samuel was serving God, not the Israelites. When God commanded him to minister to them, he could do nothing else, despite their resistance to his message.

At times people will not respond as they should to the message God speaks through you. Don’t become discouraged; it is a reflection of their relationship with God. You are God's servant; if Jesus spent His time with the spiritually needy, you can expect Him to ask you to do the same. Don’t lose your patience with God's people. Keep in mind that God loves them as much as He loves you.

And in every work that he began in the service of the house
of God in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God,
he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.

2 Chronicles 31:21

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here is a way to ensure that you prosper in what you do: serve the Lord with all your heart! Hezekiah, king of Judah, lived in a dangerous and tumultuous time. He faced powerful enemies. Idolatry was the popular religion of the day. His parents had rejected God and encouraged people to worship other gods (2 Chron. 28). Hezekiah had the opportunity to reject God as well, yet he chose to serve God with all of his heart. He did everything in his power to promote worship of the true God. He diligently followed God's commandments. As a result of Hezekiah's determination to serve God, God blessed him. Hezekiah thrived in an unsettled time because he resolved to follow God despite popular opinion.

God will honor the heart that commits to follow Him (2 Chron. 26:5). In times when worshiping God is not in vogue and when the forces of the day oppose Him, it takes courage and resolve to seek after God. God is pleased to prosper those who strive to please Him rather than to seek the approval of people (1 Sam. 2:30). Hezekiah stands in stark contrast to Rehoboam, an earlier king of Judah. It is said of Rehoboam that “he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord” (2 Chron. 12:14). When you do not set your heart to seek the Lord, calamity is the inevitable result. The surest way to prosper in your endeavors is to diligently pursue the will of God.

“Freely you have received, freely give.”

Matthew 10:8b

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here is no room for misers in God's kingdom. When we begin to struggle in giving what we have to others, we have forgotten where we received our possessions. Every good thing we have ever received has come from God (James 1:17). All that we have acquired has been dependent upon His grace (1 Cor. 4:7). Job accurately summarized our condition: “Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; / Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

We easily assume a sense of ownership of our possessions, as if they were things we earned ourselves, thereby giving us a right to them. Jesus reminds us to be prepared to give our possessions as freely and joyfully as we received them. It should be a pleasure for us to give what we have to others (2 Cor. 9:7). We ought to be a conduit through whom the Lord can pour His blessings, knowing we will disperse them to everyone around us. Sometimes we claim we are trying to be good stewards of our resources when actually we are being selfish.

If you struggle to give freely to others, you have become more attached to the gift than to the Giver. The account of the rich young ruler shows the tragedy of becoming too attached to worldly treasures (Luke 8:18–24). Meditate on all that your Lord has given to you (John 3:16). Resolve to express your gratitude to Him through your giving.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35

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othing you could ever experience, no matter how terrible or frightening, could
ever
separate you from the love of God. No tribulation and distress you might ever suffer could be so intense that God's love for you is not even more fervent. No persecution could be so painful that God's love cannot bring comfort. Famine might starve you of food, but you will never hunger for the Father's love. Poverty cannot strip you of God's compassion, just as even death itself is incapable of robbing you of your heavenly Father's infinite love.

If you base your view of God's love on your circumstances, you will become confused. There may be times when you will ask, “How could a loving God allow this to happen to me?” You may begin to question what you find clearly stated in the Word of God. God promised that you would never be separated from His love; He did not say that you would never face hardship, persecution, poverty, or danger. If you doubt that God could love you and still allow you to experience difficult experiences, consider the life of Jesus. If you allow the death of Jesus on the cross to forever settle any questions you might have about God's love, you will approach difficult circumstances with confidence. Knowing that there will never be anything that could separate you from God's perfect love, you will watch to see how God expresses His love in each circumstance. Don’t ever judge God's love based on your circumstances. Instead, evaluate your circumstances from the perspective of God's love.

The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying:
“You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.”

Deuteronomy 1:6

I
f God allowed us to live on the “mountaintop,” we would not experience trials, but neither would we achieve any victories. The Israelites had gathered at the foot of Mount Horeb while God spoke to them and gave them His law. It was a breathtaking experience! Fire and smoke covered that awesome mountain; lightning flashed, and loud trumpet sounds pierced the air in a deafening crescendo! The ground at the foot of the mountain shook, and the people trembled in fear (Exod. 19:16–25).

As important as it was for God's people to have this inspiring encounter with Him, their Lord had not rescued them from Egypt in order for them to settle around a mountain in the wilderness. God delivered them so that they could conquer the Promised Land. God wanted to demonstrate His power to the Israelites so that they would trust Him in their conquest of Canaan. Finally, God announced that they had been long enough at the mountain; it was time to go to battle.

The mountain is an enticing place to set up camp. Peter, James, and John were prepared to reside on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, but their Lord knew that a demon-possessed boy needed their assistance down below (Matt. 17:4, 14–18). At times God will graciously provide you a mountaintop experience. You may wish you could spend the rest of your life basking in the glow of your encounter with God. But remember, these mountaintop encounters are God's way of preparing you for the battles that await you.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him,
and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down,
for today I must stay at your house.”

Luke 19:5

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n our large world it's easy to feel that we are nothing more than an insignificant speck in the midst of a multitude. Our world tends to depersonalize us, seeking to make us like everyone else, but God loves us in specific ways that are particular to us.

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to fulfill His assignment on the cross. The multitudes thronged around Him in such numbers that the diminutive Zacchaeus could not see Jesus unless he climbed a tree. Zacchaeus would have been satisfied simply to catch a glimpse of the great Teacher. But Jesus stopped, turned, and looked directly at him! In that moment, Zacchaeus was oblivious to the crowd around him. Thus began a special time with Jesus that radically changed his life.

Jesus will relate to you in ways that are unique to you. He knows your past; He knows what you will face in the future. Because He knows everything about you, His word to you will perfectly fit the circumstances of your life. You may be in a group of Christians who are listening to God's Word, and you may hear things from Him that no one else hears. Don’t become frustrated with others if they are not as excited about a truth from God as you are. Don’t be impatient with them if they are not implementing God's Word in their lives exactly as you are. God will personalize His word to you. He will relate to each of your friends in a way that specifically meets their needs as well.

But Simon answered and said to Him,
“Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing;
nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

Luke 5:5

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o one knows how to help you in your times of failure as Jesus does! He will not overlook your shortcoming or simply encourage you to do better the next time. He will give you victory in the midst of your failure.

Peter had fished all night without success. His was not just a meager catch; he had caught nothing, even though he was a skilled fisherman. Jesus could have said, “Peter, don’t worry about your empty net. You’ll soon be in a different business anyway.” Instead, Jesus told him to launch out into the deep and to cast out his nets for a catch. How humbling it must have been for Peter! Here was a carpenter telling this outspoken fisherman how to fish!

Jesus often gets your undivided attention when you fail. He sometimes takes you back to your place of defeat in order to build something good into your life. You may assume He must not want you to continue because you failed so miserably in your attempt. Perhaps your problem was that you relied on your own strength instead of the Master's. Maybe you failed in a relationship. Jesus will not allow you to abandon it; He will help you learn from your failure and experience the difference He can make when He guides your relationships. When you try in God's strength, you may discover that success is indeed within your grasp. If you have recently experienced failure, you may be on the brink of receiving a profound revelation from God!