09/05/2019
We live in the world, and we are surrounded by immorality, and sin, yet this is exactly where we belong. We are not being punished by being placed in this position, but offered the opportunity to make a great impact on the souls, and circumstances, of those that we come in contact with. Do you find yourself praying that you be removed from such influences, but wake up every morning in the same place? Well, don’t ask God Why He doesn’t hear you... ask Him why He has you there.
“Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.”
Psalms 120:5-6 ESV
I was going through life... well actually, I was living two lives. I was living my life with one foot in my family and Christian life, and the other in a world that consisted primarily of my job, and the influences of the world. I had become adept at turning them off and on as I stepped between them. When I was fully engaged in my Christian life I would ask God to remove me from the world. I prayed that if He would do that I would be tempted less, and not come back to my Christian world feeling so dirty, and in need of so much cleansing prayer, and of the blood of Christ. If God would just pick me up, and set me down in a place where I was surrounded by righteous people I would be a better person, and wouldn’t be asked to do things, or see things, that went against my faith. Do you feel this way? Do you walk back and forth between these two worlds? Do you view the blood of Jesus as something so valuable that you are being miserly with it, and feel it shouldn’t be an everyday tool for those who answer His call to go into the world?
Well, I did this for years, and years, without once asking why God had placed me there, instead I asked only why He wouldn’t give me relief... then I came into a truly bad situation; one in which I felt I could not remain. I prayed harder for God to give me relief, and to provide a means for me to escape into a more righteous place, but He did not. As a matter of fact things got worse in the secular world I frequented. So I prayed harder, and went to church more frequently. My work life didn’t change, but something amazing happened... as my faith, and church life increased, the strife in my worldly life decreased. I began to experience miraculous things in my life of faith, and the Lord sent Christian people into my worldly life to surround me, and walk with me there. He surrounded me with angels, but I remained on the battlefield.
“Perhaps you think, “If I lived in a better place, I might serve the Lord’s cause — but I cannot do any good where I am.“ Realize, however, that the worse the people you live among, the more need they have of your efforts.”” - Charles Spurgeon
Then came the revelation. It didn’t happen all at once, but like a snowball rolling down hill it picked up speed. People at work, and elsewhere, who saw the change in me began to come to and ask me for prayer, or to answer questions regarding Jesus Christ. I even had a strange woman in a car inspection station ask me if I was a pastor, and tell me she dreamed of me the night before. My office door became a revolving door. A young man who worked for a large computer company came into my life, and gave me a small devotional book that I found wonderful, and I began corresponding with him each day regarding that day’s reading, and those emails and texts grew, and became these devotionals... that are now read around the world.
“And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
Mark 16:15 ESV
All those years I had been stagnant, and fretting over my worldly life were now gone, and I was bearing fruit... not because God had pulled me out of my circumstances, but because He had shown me how a small light can illuminate even the greatest of darkness. I saw the ripple of God’s efforts through me begin to change the world I had been living in.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.”
John 1:5-7 ESV
What if I had realized God’s will all those many years earlier, and seen that He wasn’t ignoring my prayers to be taken out of the world, but that His will for me was to be a light in it? What if I had seen that Jesus wanted me to remain in that world, and o make a difference? Yet, at the right time, and in the right circumstances, He removed the veil from my eyes. Is He waiting to lift the veil from your eyes too? Is He waiting for you to stop asking God why He won’t take you out of the circumstances you are in, and start asking what His will is for you there?
“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”
John 17:15 ESV
There is no big secret here... if you are doing God’s will he will change the impact you are having on the world around you, and you will find that the piece of the world you had once been stepping in and out of, will have been absorbed into your world of faith. What you once thought to be irreconcilable, will be united... by your faith. The darkness will be gone, overcome by your light. It isn’t a matter of how big or small your worldly influence is because your impact produces the same fruit, souls, and you will always find the joy in this to be greater than your wildest dreams.
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30 ESV
Are you ready to seek God’s will for you, to change your life, and in so doing change the world around you? If your answer is yes, then pray today... “Father why have you put me here in this place? What would you have me do?” You see, Jesus didn’t take us immediately to heaven when we first believed in Him... no... He sent us first into the world.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for placing me in the midst of those who need you most. Thank you Lord for surrounding me with darkness so that my light, the light of you and your Son Jesus that is in me, can shine unimpeded on those who are lost there. Holy Father, Jesus once said that His time had not yet come, but immediately His mother spoke to Him, and He turned water into wine. Use me now. Use me now Lord, and overcome my moment of indecision by speaking to me of your will. Open my heart, my ears, and my eyes, to your desire, and have it be a sweet taste on my tongue. Help me Merciful Father to speak the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who would hear, and circumcise the hearts in the world around me... preparing the ground for your seed of faith and salvation. Don’t remove me from the world Father, until your will, and plan for my life, has been accomplished. Keep me like a utensil of iron in the fire until I glow white hot in your hand, and then thrust me into the cool water where I will bring forth steam, and crackle... strengthened... ready for use upon your table. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who calls me, and uses me for His good purposes. Praised be your name for sending me into the wilderness of the world where I am to find those sheep who have wandered, and become lost there. Great are you Father for waiting until that perfect time, and then sending me forth to do your bidding. Gracious are you who gives me forgiveness, and righteousness by the grace that flows through Jesus, and then uses me to speak into the world of your goodness. Hear my worship Father, and the bold echo of my prayers. Give me courage, and all the gifts, and the armor, required to do as you will. Take away my excuses, and send me forth today, and every day into your fields, to bring in a bountiful harvest; filling your storehouse.
“Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.”
John 4:35 ESV
Rich Forbes