 Recently, I was told by a sweet and caring friend that I “really, really, really need to stop” doing some things. I know, she spoke the truth to me, and God showed me that I have been rebellious and disobedient, not to her advice that she had already given me a few weeks prior, but to His Word and command to do all to His glory. Sin does not and never will bring glory to God. As I thought on these things, I decided to look up the word acceptable in the Bible. The result of this study is realizing that freedom does not come by rebelling, but by obedience. God then took me on a journey with the following verses and did a work in my heart.
In Daniel, chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream. God gave Daniel the wisdom to interpret this dream and advised him to humble himself before God and do right if he wanted to continue to have a peaceful life. Daniel 4:27 ~ “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.” However, Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the counsel of Daniel and continued in his pride. One year later, he was driven from his kingdom and palace out into the field. He lost his mind for seven years, ate grass like the cows, his hair grew like an eagle's feathers and his nails grew to be like bird claws. Most likely, we will not experience this kind of judgment, but there will always be consequences to sin that will not only affect us by others as well. Sin is often categorized leading us to think that there are “big sins” like murder, adultery and lying and “little sins,” such as lust, hatred and white lies. In God's eyes these sins are the same (Matthew 5:21-22, 27- 28). All sin is sin and equally bad, though the actions of people, results and consequences vary greatly. When satan lifted himself up with pride and wanted to be like God, he sinned. Then he tempted Eve to sin, promising her that her life would be better. Adam then chose to disobey God, and now every person is born a sinner in need of a Savior. From the time that God called Adam in the Garden of Eden to eternity the love of God is seen. The way of salvation was already in place before people were ever created. (John 3:16) If we want to live a happy and fulfilled life, then we must be obedient to God and heed the counsel of the Word of God, be it from preaching, the conviction of the Holy Spirit as we read and study the Bible, or the exhortations from a caring friend. (Exhort means to correct of wrong doing with instruction to do right.) However, if we choose rebellion over obedience, we are setting ourselves up for disaster. Satan wants us to think that there is freedom and fun in rebellion, deceiving people into thinking that sin will bring lasting happiness. Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23) and will lead to misery, heartbreak and eventually death. But freedom is actually found in obedience that will bring joy, peace and life to every day and forever. If we are walking in obedience, our lives will be pleasing to God, we will grow spiritually and we will manifest to others the goodness of God. Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect ,will of God. We cannot live in sin and be acceptable to God at the same time. When the Holy Spirit convicts and shows us sin in our lives, we need to be willing to confess our sin to God and seek His help to be renewed and transformed. To be renewed means to “give fresh life or strength to; revive.” When our heart's desire is to walk in obedience and live a life pleasing to the Lord, God will reveal to us the lies of satan that we may be believing and then we must study the Word of God to find His truth to replace those lies. (For example, if you are feeling unloved by God, then do a word study of the verses that mention God's love.) God wants us to surrender all distractions, sins, desires and anything that hinders us from living for Him. As we surrender and fill our minds and hearts with God's truth, we will experience a renewal of life and joy that we would never know if we continued to live in rebellion. To be transformed means “a thorough change, not a modification or a comfortable tweak.” When I first read this definition, it really made me think “how much do I really want God to change me”? If we believe the lie of satan that “a little sinning won't hurt,” and we give in to that sin, then we choose to obey only when we feel like it. This is living in rebellion and not walking in obedience. If my level of obedience is only a “comfortable tweak” that makes me feel good about my sin or think “just this one time will be all right,” then I am still doing wrong and justifying my sin. To be transformed we must choose to fully obey in whatever area God shows us. Now, we do still sin as Christians, but our heart’s desire should be to live a life of surrendering all of our fleshly desires to God, relying on and trusting Him to help us obey, because He has given us the weapons (see Ephesians 6:10-18) we need to overcome sin. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 ~ “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” Not only are our actions a result of our thoughts, but sinful thoughts are sin too. We must surrender our mind and body to the Lord, choosing to spend time with God by prayer, Bible reading and study and praise in order to live in His power. How we use time, the choices we make and the things we do must glorify God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ~ “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. When God is glorified through our living obediently, we will have true joy and freedom. Obedience, not rebellion, brings freedom.  The juggle of church, homelife, work, and trying to keep it all together can sometimes come crashing down around us. The moments of outburst, letting responsibilities slip, or even missing church events. I am not giving you a reason to be angry, messy, and not go to church functions, but I am saying that it is OK! It is okay to take a moment and breathe. It is okay to miss one event. It is okay to take time for yourself. God cares about our hearts' state more than our to-do list.
Imagine the car of your dreams, a minivan with the features of a GT Mustang convertible. It's your imagination to have fun with it. This car is always on the road, and music is always playing. After several miles, and depending on your imaginary mileage intake, your car will eventually need gas. If the battery is running, and the car doesn't have gas, it will not move. That is just like us, our mind (battery) can tell us that we can keep moving, keep doing, but until we fill our spiritual tank, we will not be able to advance ourselves in the kingdom of God. Just showing up God does the work for u; we are not capable of doing anything on our own. Meditate on that. Can you feel the weight of the world roll off your shoulders? It is not up to us to complete the work. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Did catch it. He prepared it. All we have to do is be willing to work for the LORD, show up, and He has already prepared it for us. I have witnessed this firsthand. For those of you who don't know me, I am not a fan of public speaking, but the Lord puts me in situations where I have to speak in front of crowds. My church has a program for children, where, before the church starts, an adult gives a three to five-minute lesson on a scripture. I usually try to pass the torch to other willing participants, but this Sunday, the person who was supposed to speak forgot. We did not have a backup plan, so I, being in charge of this ministry, stepped up. This was not an easy task for me, because I was unprepared, I wasn't mentally ready, and honestly, I was scared to the point that I was shaking. My hands were sweaty, vibrating, my throat dry, afraid, and on top of that, I had no plan. I had five minutes until I had to get in front of the entire church and teach all of these kids something. Anything, my mind goes blank. I began to pray, and as soon as the music stopped, God laid this beautiful message on me about what is on the inside of our hearts, as shown on the outside. Everyone clapped, and I even received compliments after the service, but God did the work, not me. I simply showed up and trusted Him to do the work. When we spend more time in our personal devotion with the LORD, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. This requires dedication, consistency, and authenticity. God wants us to come to him with an open heart, pouring out our needs before Him, so that He can work in and through our lives. When the ceiling falls What do we do when life seems too much to handle? When we try to balance it all, it's overwhelming. I like to think about Peter; we all know the story, and if you don't, go read Matthew 14. ( I'll wait) Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. We all look at the fact that he failed and started to sin, and Jesus "scooped" him up, but what we miss is that He stepped out of the boat. He took steps in the storm. He tried. He focused on Jesus and not the waves around him. When everything is crashing down, we can think. I can't, and the sad truth is that you are right. You can't! But the fact that we all leave out is that God can. God put us in this situation for His glory to be seen. Matthew Henry said it this way: " God sometimes raises difficulties in the way of His people, that He may have the glory subduing them, and helping His people over them." God allowed the roof of your life to come crashing down so that you will draw closer to Him. He is in control of all, not just the good. What to pray When things happen, we often wonder what to do now. We know we should pray, and maybe we do, but it seems our prayers are not urging God to work fast enough. That is because they don't. Prayer is to change our minds to understanding God's will for us, not for Him to work on our timetable. God works in His perfect timing, so that the best outcome for His glory can take place, and when we pray over a situation, it is not to change God's timing. He knows, He caresses, and He is there with you, but what He wants is for us to continue to look to Him. Just like Peter, focusing His eyes on Jesus, He advanced slowly through the waves, but persistently. God wants us to draw closer to Him in our trials because we know we need Him. This will lead to trust and a renewing of our minds to rely more easily on Christ when situations that seem impossible arise. God wants us to suffer so that our faith will grow and our trust in Him will be unshakeable. He wants our love for Him to flow above our situations so that, just as Job did, we will glorify His name with our actions, believing He is good and wants the best for us. Believe today I hope this encourages you to know that God is good. God will provide for you in His timing. He wants you to succeed and have an abundant life. I personally have faced this challenge in my own life this week. I felt like my dominoes of life all came down around me. I know how the struggle to not let our situations define our emotions can be difficult. God has a plan, a purpose, and an outcome for your hardship already in the works. Keep looking to Him for the strength and confidence to keep going. Believe that He will provide. He will give you peace that surpasses everything you are going through for His glory. Amen. God is on your side, and so are we. I hope you will be strengthened in knowing you are not alone in this battle of life, but God has won the war. Don't let one defeat stop you from showing up for the Lord. Change your perspective to be God-focused, and even when the trials come, cause they will, He will be with you through them and pull you out because He placed you there for His glory to shine in the midst of it all.  When you live in a town long enough and travel a certain route often enough, you soon become familiar with the cycles of certain traffic lights. You know how many minutes it will be until your light turns green and the pattern it follows. Both sides get a green arrow, or perhaps one side gets the green arrow, and then halfway through the opposing traffic’s side, their light turns completely red while your side remains green and allows you to finally turn left. While no one enjoys waiting for the light to turn green, we learn to wait our turn and can even do so with a reasonable amount of patience. This all changes when the light pattern alters. Let me give you a real-life example.
I was waiting to turn in a double-turning lane when I noticed that our light had not given us the vital green arrow. I began to pay more attention, and when it missed the mark again, I grew annoyed and wondered how much damage I would do to my car by making a U-turn over a concrete barrier. I was not the only one contemplating this idea. The reason our light was not activating was that the person in front had decided to change lanes at the last minute and was diagonally occupying both lanes, so the sensors were not working properly. As I continued to debate what to do (seriously, how much damage would that concrete barrier do to my low lying car?), a frustrated gentleman in a truck, got out of his car and started to take hold of the situation. He motioned to one person to back up their car, another to maneuver theirs in this direction, all so the offending car could get in a better position to activate the sensors. I probably should mention that in the midst of directing the traffic, the light finally turned green, and because we were all over the place, only one person made it through, of course! Thankfully, when our next green arrow came, we were ready to move! Waiting patiently within reason As I thought about the traffic light incident, I couldn’t help but reflect on how it illustrated the nature of waiting for us. Often, people don’t mind waiting when it is within their envisioned timeline. For instance, when a girl is in her early teens, she knows that she won’t be married until she has graduated high school or college, so she settles into that waiting window with moderate patience. When a couple marries, the bride knows it takes a few months to conceive, so she begins her wait for a baby. Things shift when the timeline is altered or extended. The young teen has blossomed into a lovely college graduate, yet no man is in sight. The beautiful bride has just celebrated her first anniversary, yet her arms still do not cradle a child. Suddenly, these women are finding it harder and harder to wait. This young girl, who dreamed of marriage and has “patiently” waited for her “season” to arrive, is now disappointed because there is no Prince Charming in sight. The bride watched the months pass with no evidence that a baby was any closer to arriving, and her heart began to ache a little more. Second round of waiting Both of these women have arrived in what some might label the second round of waiting, one that can prove among the hardest. For the one waiting for her suitor to come, her excitement and hope begin, ever so slightly, to wane. After a few more years pass by with no gentlemen interested in even getting to know her name, she begins to look or linger longer in front of the mirror. She is desperately trying to discern the reason for the delay. Something must be wrong with her, perhaps internally or externally. This sends her on a frantic quest to overthrow or overcome her foes in order to secure matrimony. The intensity of the quest increases with each extension of waiting. She tries every diet plan, reads countless self-help books, and polls her family and friends for what a guy is looking for in a girl. The hopeful mother is often faced with a similar quest. She begins researching health tips to aid conception and consults her doctor for additional advice. She alters her diet and perhaps adds exercises she heard could help, but still nothing. Maybe, she thinks, the problem isn’t physical but spiritual. She begins to scrutinize every action and decision she has made in the last decade, hoping to find the “answer”. She confesses everything she can remember and spends extra time reading her Bible and praying, but still her womb remains empty. Tragically, this is the typical response to any extended season of waiting, when we are in the second round, with no idea whether it will ever happen. This is a critical state for the believer, and it can only be done with two key essentials. Two essentials to Waiting Trust in God and knowledge of God are vital to those who are in a season of waiting. When what we have hoped for, especially when they are good things like marriage and children, don’t arrive according to the timeline we thought they would, waiting can be difficult unless we trust in God and rest in our knowledge of Him. To put our trust in someone is to believe in their character, which stems from what we know of them. You are banking on it. This is why our time in the Word of God and our communication with Him through prayer are so important. It is how we grow in our knowledge of God, which in turn bolsters our trust in Him. Remember that Naomi was able to confidently advise Ruth to sit still, in the midst of a turbulent event that would determine her future, because she rested in the character of Boaz. We can make the same bold declaration when we learn more about our God. His character is as unchanging as His love for us. We can trust in Him as we attend yet another bridal shower or see our last single friend change her relationship status on Facebook. We can trust Him when we hold another negative pregnancy test in the bathroom. I want you to know that none of these statements is made lightly, because I understand the tears and hurt that unfulfilled dreams can cause. I also want you to know that every time I brought them to God, He met me there. He never diminished my dreams, but He did ask me to entrust them and their fulfillment to Him. I am learning that the more I know about my God, the greater my trust in Him becomes. He is sovereign, which means there is nothing I can do to delay the plans He has for me, and He does have one. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 Can I encourage you, my friend, to just spend a little extra time with the One who formed you with purpose, who calls you by name and loves you with an everlasting love? I promise, the more you do, the easier the waiting will become as your heart slowly rests in the goodness and greatness of your Good Shepherd. |
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