I'm writing for Five Minute Friday and this week's prompt word is ATTEMPT.
This last week, my 14yo asked me, 'So, Mum, if you have enough faith will God just do whatever you ask?'
I said 'No', because I've learnt, the hard way, that we can't just come up with whatever and expect God to rubber-stamp it and bless our efforts regardless.
I reminded her that Noah didn't attempt to build an ark because he thought it was a good idea. It was a God idea and Noah was obedient, over many, many years with God's explicit instructions, and with much opposition, to build an ark for rain that he'd never seen.
Moses didn't attempt to lead the Israelites out of Egypt because he thought it was a good idea. It was a God idea. in fact, Moses didn't like the idea at all. But it was obedience and a close walk with the Lord that pulled him along, often grudgingly, as he led them through.
Gideon didn't attempt to take on an army and defend his people because he thought it was a good idea. It was a God idea. It wasn't Gideon's idea and he didn't really agree with God's measure of him as a mighty warrior. He didn't want to attempt it at all because he was small in his own eyes.
Esther didn't attempt to save her people because it was easy. In fact, it could have cost her her life. She was hesitant and reluctant but she did it because she loved God and His people.
Throughout Scripture, we see that God asks His people to attempt bold and brave and radical things to build His kingdom on earth, not to build their own. It's when we start to turn it into OUR plan and our kingdom, that things go awry.
That's what happened to King Saul. He was a reluctant king at first, but then his power and role became more important than the God he was apparently serving. He ignored God's principles many times, he attacked those under him, he made foolish decisions, attempted things not in line with God's will, and he wanted Samuel to rubber-stamp those decisions, as God's representative.
If we attempt to get God to rubber-stamp OUR ideas, and then say we're having faith and God has to come through, we're in for some heartache and so are those under us. I've seen it first hand in my own life, and in others' lives. It causes a great deal of confusion and pain and sometimes has people walking away from their faith, their church, and their relationships because they got it wrong.
How do we prevent that from happening? We walk closely with Jesus. Jesus said in John 15, 'ask whatever you wish and it will be done in My name'. But He was talking to men who knew Him well. His words are true for us too, IF we know Him well enough to know what to ask for.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:7,8
I've heard these verses twisted out of context to justify asking for whatever. We can't just attempt something, even if it's something God originally gave us to do, in our own strength, in our own way, for our own purposes, and expect it to be okay. Jesus says here, 'IF you abide in ME, and MY words abide in you'. That's conditional. God wants us to attempt great things, but those great things need to be HIS great things, done through us - from Him, for Him, in Him, to Him, about Him.
How do we know if we're doing it for the right reasons? We don't always know our own hearts. Sometimes, He requires us to lay that dream, that ministry, that life goal, that desire, that relationship on the altar - that very thing that He gave us and promised us and led us to. It seems crazy and it challenges everything in us, but in laying it down, we know what we're attempting to do and keep doing, is actually for HIM, and it's not more important than Him.
Has God asked us to attempt something, and we've started down that road, and then we get side-tracked by the glory of it, and now we've forgotten Who asked us in the first place?
Have we started off right with God, but then not continued to be fully surrendered in that thing we're attempting 'for Him' and it becomes about us?
Or maybe God asked us to attempt something and it's a lot harder than we imagined. The dream is verging on nightmare. It's taking considerably more diligence and work and refinement than we realised it would. And we're tempted to let it go, give up, find something easier to do, or run away from it, like Jonah.
Perhaps as we attempt it, we get a lot of opposition, like Nehemiah rebuilding the wall, and we're tempted to quit. But people need us to not give up, but to recalibrate and ask God how to move forward.
Maybe that thing He called us to attempt is finished, its season is done. Like Samuel, we need to grieve it but then move on.
It's in the attempting that we are refined and our heart motives are exposed, our belief systems are exposed, our insecurities are exposed, our fears are exposed, our lack is exposed. That exposure is painful and we're tempted to hide, but it requires only one thing - to run back to the One who called us. What did You actually say Lord? What did You actually ask of me? What is it that's not right? Why is this so hard? Did You really say...........? We need to wrestle with the calling and the promise and ourselves, and then surrender.
It's in the surrender that the attempts are turned into something God can use. It's in the surrender that our attempts are seen for what they really are. Will we let Him refine us like He refined His disciples back then?
https://clipart-library.com/clipart/621839.htm
All our attempts, frail or fantastic, need to be surrendered, to begin with, and every single step along the way, at each decision point, large or small. Only a few degrees off course can lead us in a very different direction over time.
We need to abide in Him so that His goals are our goals, His desires are our desires, His way is our way. We have to delight first and foremost in the God who called us to attempt that thing, not in the thing itself. Only then, will our attempts bring glory to God.
I remember reading Loren Cunningham's book, 'Is That Really You, God?' about the beginning of YWAM. Loren has just passed into glory (heard about that this morning) but his legacy lives on. His book is the journey of hearing God, laying it down, the vision refined, Loren refined, and so on. It is well worth reading.
I come back to these verses many times when my attempts to follow God's path are floundering.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday. Ps 37:4-6
So much wisdom in this post, Kath. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try and find a copy of Loren's book to read.
P.S. Amen to "If we attempt to get God to rubber-stamp OUR ideas, and then say we're having faith and God has to come through, we're in for some heartache." Been there, done that.
Thought provoking writing. Are my ideas... more important than the God I claim to follow? Good thing to ponder. FMF17
ReplyDelete