Last week I invited people to try to write a short story. Here’s what I came up with. (If you’re using a reader you may need to click through.)
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With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand. (PS 78.72)
“Here we see the combination of competence and character. David led his people with a heart of integrity (character) and skillful hands (competence). These qualities should always go hand in hand in the life of a leader.” – Dave Kraft, Leaders Who Last
When I was younger I told a wise older Christian man that I didn’t know how God wanted me to serve him. How would I discover my gifts? He gave me this great advice:
“Take care of the depth of your character and the Lord will take care of the breadth of your ministry.”
In other words, don’t worry about your ministry. Pursue the Lord; obey him and seek to become like him in character; serve others in whatever way you can and he will take care of your “ministry.”
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I think that fear often holds us back from pursuing the desires that God has put on our hearts.
For example:
- You desire to use your spiritual gift of prophecy or leadership or mercy, yet you fear making mistakes and failure.
- You desire to start a Bible study but fear asking people to join you.
- You desire to write a book, but fear that you’ll never finish it.
- You desire to challenge someone in their spiritual walk, but fear that they’ll react poorly.
The gospel is what frees us from fear. In Christ, God accepts me. He is my father, I am his son. There are no conditions on his love, no earning that I must do. I don’t need more acceptance. I have enough in Christ. If others think poorly of me, who cares? If I fail, then I’ll fail knowing that God still delights in me. I am free to step out and risk my reputation, because my identity isn’t found in my reputation, it’s found in Christ.
The glory of the gospel is that I am in Christ. My identity is wrapped up in him. I belong to him and I am his servant. I’m a soldier in his service. Nothing more! Whether I succeed or fail, my position in Christ doesn’t change. Whether I produce bushels of fruit or go down in a glorious mess, it doesn’t matter. In 1 Corinthians 3:7-8, Paul said:
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
My identity is a servant of Christ. If I water, wonderful. If I harvest, great. If I try and fail, God is still honored. If I try and succeed, it was still God who gave the growth. I’m free to risk my reputation for God because I’m not the one ultimately responsible for producing the fruit. God is pleased by my efforts.
Charles Spurgeon said:
I think I know of no delight on earth that is higher than that of knowing that you really are with all your heart adoringly serving God.
Is fear holding you back from using your gifts to serve the Lord? Is fear of what others think keeping you from adoringly serving God? Don’t hold back. Don’t let fear limit you. You are secure in Christ. If you’re going to fail, fail gloriously.
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about one little word: try.
Christians should be those who are willing to try things for God’s glory. We should be those who don’t quit trying. The Bible calls us to be persistent, to not give up following Christ, praying, hoping, doing good, giving, loving, forgiving, working, and sharing the gospel. We are to persist because God himself is our helper and he has created good works for us to walk in.
God doesn’t call us to be successful. He only calls us to be faithful.
Which means to try. The Master rebuked the servant he’d given one talent to for burying it – for not trying. He commended the others because they took their talents and went out and tried to do something with them.
A fool says, “I can’t;” a wise man says, “I’ll try.” –Charles Spurgeon, Salt Cellars
There are at least 3 reasons we don’t try things – fear, unbelief and laziness.
Sometimes we fear we’ll fail. Or we fear what others may think. We fear going to a brother who is offended at us because of the discomfort we’ll experience, so we put it off again and again. We fear being evaluated for our efforts, so it’s easier to not do things. I battle this, even with songwriting, which I’ve done for many years. I hesitate to send songs for critique at times because I fear that the guys I send it to won’t like them.
The only way to overcome your fears is to “do the thing you fear,” as Emerson wrote, “and the death of fear is certain.” -Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog.
What great advice. Ask yourself, what is it you most fear? Is it letting your pastor know an area you’d like to serve? Is it stepping out in a spiritual gift? Going to a sister and asking forgiveness? Praying out loud in front of others? Ask God for grace to tackle that fear and attack it at your next opportunity.
At other times we don’t try because of unbelief.
We don’t pray because we don’t think anything will happen. We quit trying with our children because we don’t think anything will change. We don’t believe the gospel is powerful. Or that God will use us.
“Satan strikes either at the root of faith or at the root of diligence.” – John Livingstone in David MacIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer
Prayer is a particular area we’re tempted not to try.
We’re tempted not to pray for God to heal because we prayed for someone once and they weren’t healed. We’re tempted not to pray because we don’t believe God hears us or that our prayers are effective. We’re tempted not to pray because we have to wait for an answer. Yet we should never quit praying even if we have to wait.
“To wait is not merely to remain impassive. It is to expect – to look for with patience, and also with submission. It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if He does not come we will acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that He will not come.” -MacIntyre
In other words, keep praying. Keep expecting. Keep asking Jesus to save your children. Keep asking him to heal you. Keep asking your Father to provide. Keep asking him to help you in that class. Keep asking for joy. Keep asking for strength to serve. Keep asking for opportunities to share the gospel. Keep trying!
I like these 2 quotes by Brian Tracy in Eat That Frog:
Take action on your plan immediately. Do something. Do anything. An average plan vigorously executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done. For you to achieve any kind of success, execution is everything.
Wayne Gretzky, the great hockey player, once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
So what shots are you going to take for God today?
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Here are some links for your enjoyment:
When Star Wars Meets Jane Austen – Yes I am a nerd. And yes, I love these pictures. Victorian portraits of Star Wars characters.
Destiny of the Republic – I really enjoyed this book about the assassination of James Garfield. It was probably one of the best historical books I’ve read in a while.
A Short E-Book on Abortion – John Piper and Desiring God are offering a free e-book on the subject of abortion.
Kids Climbing Across A Bridge To Get To School – I promise that I will never complain again about schooling.
You Forgot To Bring Your Bag? – If you live in Portland, or any hipster city for that matter, don’t forget to bring your own grocery bag.
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There is one battle that we fight every day. Multiple times a day. Probably hundreds of times a day. The battle is this:
Will I let my circumstances shape my view of God, or will I let the Word of God shape my view of God?
Every single day we encounter circumstances that fight to shape us and mold us and twist us. My tight budget tries to squeeze me into the mold of fear. My disobedient child tries to twist me into a sculpture of unbelief. My constant sickness tries to wrestle me into doubting God’s goodness.
Circumstances are always trying to shape our faith.
When Jesus’ disciples came face to face with a massive crowd of hungry people, they let what they saw with their eyes shape their faith, rather than letting Jesus shape their faith. They trusted more in what they could see than in the Son of God standing next to them.
That’s our temptation too. To let our faith be shaped by what we see rather than God’s truth and God’s character.
Today, let’s seek to have our faith shaped by the word of God. Period.
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Would you like to increase your joy in the Lord? (Talk about a loaded question. No Mark, I want less joy. Tell me how I can decrease it).
One of the ways God produces joy in my life is giving thanks.
Giving thanks – as much and as often as we can for as many things as we can – is one of the most important spiritual habits we can cultivate.
David MacIntyre, in his book, The Hidden Life of Prayer, tells us:
Fraser of Brea, at one time a prisoner for Christ’s sake on the Bass Rock, resolved that he would search out and record the loving-kindnesses of God. He did so with a very happy effect upon his own spirit. He says, “The calling to mind and seriously meditating on the Lord’s dealings with me as to soul and body, His manifold mercies, has done me very much good, cleared my case, confirmed my soul of God’s love and my interest in Him, and made me love Him. Oh,…what wells of water have mine eyes been opened to see, which before were hid. Scarce anything hath done me more good than this.”
Recently two things have inspired me to try to be grateful for small blessings.
I recently asked a friend who is suffering from cancer what he was going to do that evening. He said, “I’m just going to stay in and stay warm. I used to make all kinds of plans to do this and do that, but now I’m just grateful to be able to relax in a warm house.”
How many blessings I take for granted. I should thank Jesus every day for a warm home, a hot shower, a cup of coffee in the morning.
I was also inspired by this quote from the The Hidden Life of Prayer:
“I have experienced today the most exquisite pleasure that I have ever had in my life,” said a young invalid; “I was able to breathe freely for about five minutes.”
Wow. How often do we thank God we can breathe? That we can see and hear? And walk? And read, and think clearly, and laugh?
Let’s thank God today for every small blessing – every “exquisite pleasure” – we can think of. Make a list. Write your blessings on post-it notes. Write them on a white board or in a prayer journal.
What are some small blessings you are grateful for?
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