(Ephesians 2:8-10)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.”
I have a very clear understanding of what God want me to do,
and I am doing it. But there is this
issue of faith, or lack of it, that will raise its head every now and
again. Let me explain.
It is clear that God has me, Martie and me to be correct,
helping those who cannot help themselves.
In particular, He has made me very aware of the plight of widows. James
1:27 says “religion is expressed in its purest sense when we help widows
and orphans in their affliction” (paraphrased by me). I have seen the mighty hand of God at
work. Do you remember the story of Elijah
and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18?
Right after that victory, Elijah was exhausted and even ran for his life in
fear. How did that happen. In my experience, when you are anointed by
the Spirit of God for a particular work and that work is accomplished to and
for the glory of God, you will be physically and emotionally exhausted at the
end. You will have a supernatural ability
in the midst of the work, but after, you become very aware of your weakness in
light of Jesus’ strength. (2 Corinthians
12:9) [I am feeling that way right now after having ministered to my sister,
her husband, her children and my sister.]
So … I am “recovering”
and am vulnerable. I read a post on
Facebook about people who have suffered the loss of a loved one and the thought
came to me. “What good do you think you
can possibly do in light of what others are doing? Who do you think you are?” Have you every wondered that in the light of
God’s call on your life? The truth is, what God calls you to do is between you
and God. It has nothing to do with what
He has called others to do. The temptation is to take your eyes off of Jesus
and focus on other things, other people.
If you do, you will immediately start to sink. That is what happened to me this morning. On
the face of it, it seems improbable or perhaps even impossible. I mean how can you go from standing boldly
for God at one minute and doubting that what you are doing is right the next. (Zechariah 4:6) “It’s not by strength or
by power but by my Spirit says the Lord God of Hosts.”
As Jesus followers we all live with this tension between the
Spirit and the flesh. Once again, Proverbs
3:5-6 says trust God and not yourself.
If you are using the world and trust in yourself to do what God has
clearly called you to do, you will fail.
You can’t do it. Don’t compare
yourself to others when considering your God-given purpose. God will always ask you to do what is not
humanly possible. You will always need
the power of the Spirit to do it. And
when the task is accomplished, you will feel just a little bit, or even a lot,
of the weight of what you have just done. And it will exhaust you. Maybe even make you fearful or doubtful. When that happens … praise the Lord and be humbled
that He would use a sinner like you for His eternal purposes. Amazing! CHARLEY
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