The Right Question
John 4:34 (CSB)
34 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.
I read a story not so long ago about a man that graduated from seminary. He and his wife wanted to be “tentmaking church planters in one of the counties in Georgia. He had taken all of the church planting and evangelism courses he could. He spent a year and a half creating the plan to begin churches all over that county… but everything went wrong.
It was a time when jobs were scarce. He and his wife were unable to find work and ended up using all their savings and were growing debt. Still, they had not gathered anyone interested in starting a church. The man had to move his family back home to live with his parents.
His intent was good. He wanted to reach people for Christ, wanted to expand the kingdom of God. He was willing to work yet the result was failure. For a while, he struggled with the question of why God had not blessed his efforts.
Shortly after he took a job with a Christian publisher, he realized he had been misdirected. He had been making his own plans and tried to enlist God to bless them.
Proverbs 19:21
21 Many plans are in a person’s heart,
but the LORD’s decree will prevail.
God had been waiting for this man to surrender his plans and make himself available for His divine purpose. When he had a shift in his perspective, he began to see the difference between Self-centered and God-centered activity.
He volunteered with a local association of churches to help in church planting. He simply shared the need for new church plants and watched to see what God would do.
Within three months he received word from fourteen communities requesting new churches. Within two years there were six new churches with full-time pastors. God had accomplished in weeks what he could not do with years of his own effort.
He had been so busy trying to do things for God, he had not spent time enjoying fellowship with God.
Are we so busy trying to accomplish God’s will that we aren’t enjoying fellowship with God?
Psalm 37:7 (CSB)
7 Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him;
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the person who carries out evil plans.
Don’t just do something, do what God shows you. Following God’s will is most important. Here is why – once we know His will we can adjust our life to His plan. That adjustment is called picking up your cross and following Him.
John 15:5 (CSB)
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
How much can we do without Christ? N O T H I N G. In the end, it will become apparent what we did for self and what we did for Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:13 (CSB)
13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.
5 & 2
Remember the story of feeding the 5000? Just as the little boy brought what he had, we do the same. What little we have to do what He tells us, we lay it at the feet of Jesus. And He does the impossible. As we abide in Christ we will be amazed at what He does through us.
Matthew 11:28–30 (CSB)
28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
A yoke is an instrument that allows two oxen to work in tandem. Often farmers would join an experienced animal with a younger ox. This allowed the younger to learn from the seasoned animal.
Jesus sent His disciples out into the world. Go – make disciples, baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teach them to obey my commands. And remember, I am with you. (Matt 28:19-20 my paraphrase).
God’s intention is to have a love relationship with His people. He calls us into a relationship where He is Lord. He describes it through Jeremiah. He is the potter and we are the clay. Doesn’t He have the right to form us any way He pleases?
Are we willing to do and be anything He chooses?
If we respond to Him as Lord, it is a daily walk. As we pick up our cross, there are new assignments. He may lead you to do things you would never have dreamed of.
Nowhere in the Bible does it teach us that God gives us a life plan and then abandons us to figure it out. The pattern shown in Scripture is a daily walk with Him where He gives new assignments and then works through us to accomplish them.
Spiritual gifts are the supernatural empowering to accomplish the assignment that God gives you.
Not long ago I was talking with someone about a carpenter that made my cupboards. He told me that he moved.
He began to describe how I could find his house. Since I really haven’t been to that area, even though it is local, I had a hard time keeping track of all the landmarks I would need to actually arrive at the destination.
Now if this man became my map and jumped in the car with me, he could tell me how to get there as we were moving down the road. Which do you think would be more effective to get me to the destination?
Jesus is our way and he sent Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct us.
John 14:6 (CSB)
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
When we allow Holy Spirit to be our map there is no need to be anxious.
Philippians 4:6 (CSB)
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
1 Peter 5:7 (CSB)
7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.
We ask, seek, and knock and He opens and shows us the way. Abram walked with God. He followed one day at a time.
Genesis 12:1–5 (CSB)
THE CALL OF ABRAM
12 The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.,
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
The Lord led him to the destination. Ananias heard and did what the Lord told him to do that day and Saul was heald, filled with the Holy Spirit, and was baptized.
Acts 9:10–19 (CSB)
SAUL’S BAPTISM
10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.
11 “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Was that a productive day?
Do you think either Saul or Ananias expected this?
Was it supernatural?
God wants us to seek Him every day. If God were to give us the whole plan would we follow Him day by day? More likely you would put all your focus on the plan rather than on Him.
More likely you would put all your focus on the plan rather than on Him.
God wants your full attention and trust to be in Him. He doesn’t want your life to depend on a plan or an income or anything else. We are to trust in Him only.
*Adapted from Experiencing God – Henry Blackaby
Have you struggled to know God’s will?
Are you satisfied with your relationship with Christ, or do you constantly feel the need to be doing something for Him?
How have you experienced God working through your life as you have been abiding in Christ?
Are you content to follow God one day at a time, or do you become anxious if you do not know where God is leading you in the future? Why do you think that is?
