03/27/2018
When you are serving God do you seek to further perfect what He has given you to do? If He tells you to build a neighborhood church do you build a parsonage as well? We hear the voice of God, we hear what He would have us do, and then presume we know what comes next. Have you been guilty of this? Did it seem innocent as you placed words in the mouth of God?
“And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
1 Samuel 15:22 ESV
My wife loves to garden and work in our yard. She has planted various flowers and shrubs over the years, and the landscape surrounding the house looks beautiful in every season. This is her joy and she has a vision in her mind of how it should look. My job is to mow the grass and trim the bushes.
There is one Bush in our yard that grows quickly and sends out long branches that catch hold of me when I am mowing; it had grown so much that it’s uppermost branches were extending into the trees surrounding it. So one day, after I had mowed the yard I grabbed my saw and cut it nearly to the ground. When Ann saw this she was beside herself because although it was my job to do the trimming, she hadn’t asked me to prune this bush back to that degree. In her eyes the bush no longer provided the privacy she wanted, and no longer served its intended flowering purpose. I had assumed she wouldn’t have a problem with what I had done.
When we take what God has asked us to do and carry it to extremes, or add to it in our desire to please Him even more; we are presuming we know better than He. God has a plan for us and our lives. He also had a plan for Jesus. When we take matters into our own hands, or assume we can make something better, or more perfect than God, then we are no longer within His will.
It is almost Easter, and this is s good time to remember the prayers of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus discussed a matter of will with the Father. He was facing the cross on one hand, or continuing His earthly mission on the other. If He looked at this through the eyes of a reasoning man it would seem, on the surface anyway, that continuing to spread the Word of God, and teaching about His Father’s kingdom would be of more benefit than dying. After all there will be time for dying later, and perhaps He could even be taken up into heaven like Elijah.
“And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
2 Kings 2:11 ESV
This seems like a pretty dramatic and impactful way to end His time on earth! Yet this is not what God had in mind, nor what Jesus did... Jesus went into the garden and asked God if there was any way He could change His desire regarding what was about to transpire. Then, once God told Him that crucifixion was indeed His will, Jesus said “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done”, and performed His role perfectly. He allowed Himself to be shackled, beaten, scourged, spat on, stripped naked, humiliated, and nailed to a cross to die... and in the process He asked that the Father forgive those that had done this to Him.
When we are asked to do something by God, that is exactly what we should do. If we have a question or an idea then we shouldn’t just do it... we should go into our own personal Garden of Gethsemane, and ask about it. This is called relationship, and obedience. God’s plan for us goes way beyond what we can see, and the good that comes from even the worst possible experiences we can imagine are as clear as day to Him because He knows the beginning from the end.
As for the bush I nearly cut down? Well, that bush sprouted new branches, and grew back, and Ann got over her disappointment and forgave me. But rest assured that the next time I want to go beyond the yard work that we have previously discussed, I will seek her out and we will reach agreement before I presume to know her vision for our yard, and take into my own hands what she is working towards.
As for the opening verse today... The answer to the question that Samuel posed to Saul is that listening to the Word of God, and obeying His desire for us to the letter, is what He takes pleasure in. We are not to presume His will, nor are we to expand or detract from it.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your perfect will in my life. You know me, and have a plan for me that is good in its ultimate outcome. Holy Father, there will be times when I am faced with such things as cancer, Pneumonia, or some other suffering, but in those times I will seek you always, and know that in them your will for me has an outcome that is good beyond my ability to fathom. Father, I need look no further than the example I have in Jesus to understand the power in obedience, and the glory that my doing your will brings to you, and your kingdom. Help me to be still and listen for your voice in everything I do, and send your angels and Holy Spirit to strengthen me in those hard and painful things you ask of me. Steady my hand Lord, and may I always do those things you ask of me willingly, and without complaint. Give me the courage Merciful Father to face each day, and to grasp your will as I obey you in every regard. Let the words “Yes Lord”, and “Here Am I Father” always be at the ready on my tongue. May the sweat of my brow fall like rain on your estate, and many souls grow and blossom as a result. You are my Father, my God, and perfect in all your ways, I will serve you Lord with all my heart, and for all eternity. Great are you Lord, and greatly to be praised... even in the midst of my suffering; even in the desert of my understanding. My trust is in you forever more. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God.
Rich Forbes