We who have accepted Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior and who have received His free gift of
grace should be the most bold and courageous servants for Him. But
are you? Are you walking in the fullness of the gift that Jesus died
to give you? There is only one you. No one else can do what the Lord
has equipped you to do in this world. Are you letting Him lead you or
do you have control of the reins? I'll let you ponder those questions
for a while. I have had the last 10 months to think about them.
The bible is full of
stories of people who faced many challenges in their lives. Some of
my favorite characters are the ones who faced great adversity yet
preserved and were used through it. Abraham, Joseph, Job, David and
Paul all had reasons to question what God was doing. Yet their faith
in Him remained strong.
When the storms of this
life hit you with a devastating blow how do you respond? I know in my
own life I am the most miserable when I am full of fear and I
constantly question what God is doing. Or when I do things half
halfheartedly. Half obedience is not obedience at all.
Abraham obeyed when God
called him to leave home and all that he knew, to go to another land
that God would give him as an inheritance. He went without knowing
where he was going. Later Abraham and Sarah believed that God would
keep His promise to give them a son even though they were way beyond
the age of child bearing and Sarah was barren. (Hebrews 11: 8-12)
Yes Abraham and Sarah had
faults. It took many years for the promise of a son to come to pass.
They tried to help God along by having Abraham sleep with Sarah's
maid servant Hagar. It had some unpleasant consequences. (Genesis
16:1-6) There was another time where Abraham was afraid and tried to
pass Sarah off as his sister for fear King Abimelech would kill him
if they discovered that Sarah was his wife. (Genesis 20: 1-18)
Years after Isaac was born
God again tested Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his only
son as a burnt offering. Abraham believed that if God did indeed let
him go through with killing Isaac that He had the power to raise him
up again. In the end an angel intervened. A ram was used as the
sacrifice and God blessed Abraham with the promise of having too many
decedents to number them. (Genesis 22:1-19)
Joseph was sold into
slavery by his brothers. He was unjustly accused by Potiphar's wife
and spent years in prison. Then years later Joseph was called to
interpret Pharaoh's dream. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge over Egypt
and in the end many people including Joseph's family were saved from
a severe famine. (Genesis chapters 37-45) Joseph could have become
bitter by the way he was treated. Instead he gave God the glory and
stated that what his brothers meant for harm, God meant for good.
(Genesis 50:20)
Job didn't know about the
conversation that God and Satan had regarding him in Job chapter 1.
He suffered through many afflictions that God allowed Satan to
inflict on him. After the first 7 days his comforters turned on him
and accused Job of sinning. Job's own wife told him to curse God and
die. He went through more than most of us will ever experience. He
questioned God. When God answered back, Job said, “I had heard
about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” (Job
42:5) When Job prayed for his friends the Lord restored his
fortunes and gave him twice as much as before. (Job 42: 10) My
favorite verse in that book is “Though he slay me yet will I trust
him.” (Job 13:15 NKJV) We have to look beyond the circumstances
because when we do we see God.
David was appointed king
then ran for his life from King Saul. David committed murder and
adultery and yet he was still called a man after God's own heart.
Paul, formally Saul, had
persecuted Christians. He held the clothes of the men while they
stoned Stephen to death. On the road to Damascus, he heard the Lord
and went on to be a champion for Christ. Yet the Lord said that Paul
would suffer much for His Name and he did. Paul was beaten with rods,
stoned, ship wrecked, and bitten by a serpent. Yet when he was
imprisoned in Philippi, chained and beaten he still sang praises to
the Lord with Silas.
These are precious stories
that should encourage each of us. Pray and ask God which ones you
should explore more fully.
I said in the first post
that I was tired of feeling fearful and wanted to know the Lord more.
He granted that request. When all else is stripped away and we have
nothing left to rely on, the only place we have to go is into the
arms of Jesus. I wanted more and the Lord was faithful to deliver. Do
I want to repeat the process it took to get there? No. Was it worth
it? Most definitely.
Take some time in prayer.
Ask the Lord if there are areas in your relationship with Him that
need to change. Then dare to allow Him to do it. Change usually hurts
but anything that draws us closer to the Lord is worth it.
If you like what you
read, thank God for it. If you don't, tell Him.
