Before: usual perspective, looking at my relationship with God
Life of Joseph: God's got this
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
-- Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Joseph told his brothers that he didn't have the right to revenge. "You intended to harm me but God intended it all for good." Not that everything that happens to us is good - but that God is sovereign and He planned and weaved out a plan to make it for His good. The one constant in Joseph's life was that he believed "God's got this." When we don't believe that, we think we have to do it. We serve a God who is creative and powerful beyond our wildest imagination.
I don't know what is going on in your life; perhaps you're confused by it. But listen to the promise: God is at work. He will weave a masterpiece from your life. "All things work together for good" - synergistically - not just for everyone - but - for those called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). He will use your circumstances to shape you into the image of His Son. If God is for us, who can be against us? Sometimes life is hard. If you trust your circumstances you'll find yourself an emotional hot mess, but if your faith is in the fact that God's got this and He's good, you will finish really well. Layman Strouss, a famous preacher, used to say all the time, "Jesus never had it this good." He asked that Buddy pray that he finished really well. He had been praying that for years, years and years.
Comments
Jan 3rd, this past Saturday, praying my usual pain
And then today, He showed me the most beautiful things in the message and gave me a completely different perspective about who He is and what He wanted from me. Again, I had heard it all before, but it never soaked in. I felt like today, I finally understood something.
New year: rather than working on changing ourselves, be with Him
At the start of a new year, people have this built in desire to start afresh, turn over a new leaf and better themselves. As believers, one of the things we can desire for this new year is a greater growth in holiness - to be set apart for Him. Jesus exposes our need for Him and our hope at same time.
Maybe you might want some of these things ...
Health - love, power and sound mind - healing in body, emotionally and spiritually
Effectiveness - making disciples and advancing the Kingdom
We all have hopes, dreams, brokenness and frustration. What we have to realize is that God wants these things (growth, health, effectiveness, dreams) for you, not from you. God doesn't need anything from you to love you any more this year. Before Jesus did his ministry, God claimed Him and said His pleasure and love was in Him before He had started His ministry or done anything for Him (Matt. 3:13-16). The challenge in the gospel is to accept that you're accepted. After that, can you accept that your neighbor is accepted? Your enemy? God doesn't need something out of your growth. When you come alive, God says it makes Him come alive, just like a parents feel about his child. How do you respond when you feel as if you haven't measured up? Do you run toward or away from God? Sanctification is a marathon not a sprint. In our society, we are frantic, busy, like candles burning from both ends - so anxious and burning out. The greatest enemy to our spiritual growth is hurry. Growth cannot be rushed. We are like a branch connected to a vine. God gives us seeds, not trees. He gives us beginnings, not the finished product. This is the beginning of something great, not the end. We are looking for fast food rather than produce. Apple trees takes 5 yrs to produce anything someone can eat. We try to grow spiritually everywhere all at once, and as a result grow nowhere. When we are in a hurry, we live in tomorrow rather than in today so we are never really living, and cannot grow. We can't be addicted to new revelation and info. Give one thing attention that God is telling you and wait.
Don't look for short cuts to God. The way to life in God is vigorous and takes all your attention. We think, at the start of a new year, of improving our relationship with Him, saying, "I didn't know enough last year or I didn't try hard enough!" But that's not true. God says there are no short cuts to Him. This is a relationship. You are not your hope. It is not about you getting it straight or right, but about us finally giving in to Him. God started it and He says He will finish what He started (Phil. 1:6). God wants to have a resurrection of your hope, not your willpower. Do you recognize this or are you still "insane"? (Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.) The humble realize they can't do it. He doesn't even want us to try. (Matt 6:5) With a God this loving you can pray very simply. You don't have to have the right words because He is God. Be simple and honest.
Matt 6:25 How do we move forward? Don't you think He will attend to you, take pride in you? Steep your life in God's reality. Don't worry about missing out. Give attention to what is happening right now, rather than tomorrow.
What grips you in fear? What makes you lay awake at night? "What if I'm always bleeding like this? What if this never changes? What if ...?" God says to look at nature, the world He made, and calm down for a second. We can't hear God when we are freaking out. When something scares you, we go into fight or flight mode, only about to hear the beat of our own heart and we live like this all the time. Your soul is like a baby that screams and cries for attention, telling you that the world is ending: "feed me, change me...!" As the parent of a new baby, we suddenly realized that we needed to be the parent, rather than hanging on our baby's every whim. She didn't even know what she needed.
This is how we are, toward God. Isn't life more than just this? Though it sounds blasphemous to us to say, life is even more than becoming like Him. There's more important things than breakthrough. Instead, take your eyes off the screaming baby that is your soul, and just talk to God. Remember that Jesus said we must die to ourselves in order to save ourselves. We look at ourselves all the time instead of at Him. Matt 10:39 This is the scariest part of God's invitation is to forget yourself. What would it be like today to fall asleep and forget yourself, to be careless in the care of God? Relationships are really toxic when all you think about is yourself. We need to be captivated by His beauty again, to just be present with Him. God is looking for long walks with you. "Share your heart with me just because I want to hear it. I'm not asking you to change yourself and be your own hope; I'm asking you to come away with me." Just simply abiding in the love of God and it will do something much more than what you could imagine. The dead will come alive.
We experience a mini-death and resurrection all the time when we sleep. We just expect to wake up, but we don't have any control over it. We surrender our day, desires and everything when we sleep. You go to sleep and wake up resurrected. We don't know how it happens. It is in the place of giving in, not trying harder. God loves you more than you think. He wants to have a conversation with you more. It's ok to let the baby cry for a second. It won't die. We repent for leading ourselves, God, and want to let You lead again. He said, "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) We need to stop living so frantically.
Thoughts: how this message changed my perspective
New perspective for work: This view also applies to my work. Last Friday, I was so panicked at everything I didn't know, felt like I had to learn it all NOW, and started planning an insane work load for next week. Now I see that that probably isn't the best way or what God wants. I need to rest in God's presence, looking to Him to show me what to do, and be calm in Him, accepting His peace. Yes, I know nothing. Yes, there is a lot to do - far more than I could ever accomplish. But living frantically and only in the tomorrow rather than the now will not ultimately help. I'm so glad that He showed me this.
Difference: Leaving the church today, I felt really free for the first time in a long while - free to just rest in God, rather than strive to better myself, thinking how worthless I am.
Songs
How Many Kings
Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we've projected
A child in a manger
Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we've waited for?
Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he'll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we've waited for?
It's who we've waited for
How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me
All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you
How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me
All for me
All for you
God I look to you
God I look to You
I won't be overwhelmed
Give me vision to see things like You do
God I look to You
You're where my help comes from
Give me wisdom, You know just what to do
And I will love You Lord my strength
And I will love you Lord my shield
And I will love You Lord my rock
Forever all my days I will love you God
Hallelujah our God reigns
Hallelujah our God reigns
Hallelujah our God reigns
Forever all my days Hallelujah
Scripture
Luke 10:41-42 (NIV), “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Matthew 6:5-13 (The Message), 5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?6 “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.
Matthew 6:25-34 (The Message), "If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."