Doing What I'm Told

Friday night I taught at my single’s group monthly meeting at my church. Initially, I was going to teach on fear and worry… but God had some other plans. See, I wanted to teach on fear and worry because of some things I was going through… see where I am going with this?

God has a bigger plan.

I was still trying to do that control thing, where it was all about me, and what I thought I needed to talk about… God yanked the reins and said to hold up, there is something else I want you to talk about.

**I also laugh when I think about the discussion I had over the fear and worry topic, because my friend said “maybe God doesn’t WANT you to know what you should teach on…give up control.”

It’s pretty cool, how He works. The feeling of peace and joy that I have had for the last week, and excitement for the BIG things God has in store for me…

On Saturday, I went to a baseball game followed by a Mercy Me concert, and the lead singer, Bart Millard, gave a message very similar to what God gave me the previous night. So similar, in fact, that two of the people who were at both events came up to me and commented on it.

God apparently wanted that message out there to reach someone. Perhaps more than one someone. Probably me.

Psalm 16 (NASB)

1 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
³ As for the saints who are in the earth,

They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.
⁴ The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

⁵ The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

⁷ I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
⁸ I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
¹⁰ For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
¹¹ You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

VS 1-4, 7-8

SEEK GOD’S WILL – FIRST

·        Do not make choices or decisions and THEN ask God to bless them – that choice or decision may not be what God has planned or intended for you

·        Think about this: Is God in your driver’s seat, or have you placed Him in one of those Driver’s Ed cars where you still have the controls on the passenger side?  

·        ASK YOURSELF: 

 

o   What are some areas of your life that you have made a choice or decisions and then asked God to bless it? How did that turn out? What did you learn from it?

 

VS 5-6

FIND JOY IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD – FIRST

 

·        When we place God first in our lives, the mere act of living gets a little easier.

·        This does not happen because God suddenly takes all of the trials and sufferings of being human away from us – quite the opposite actually. But now we have the Grace of Jesus guiding us, helping us to make decisions, and we do not have to walk alone.

·        Do you try to find joy in something other than God? (Stuff, people, things, money?)

·        ASK YOURSELF:

 

o   Does your relationship with God bring you joy? How so? Or does it bring you sadness, i.e. like you do not measure up to God’s standard? 

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NASB)

¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

 

The verse from Habakkuk says that even if things are not going our way, we should rejoice in the Lord, for He has saved us. God feeds the birds of the fields and knows the number of hairs on our heads… how can you think He would not care for you when you are going through tough times?

 

 

VS 9-11

 

HAVING THE SECURITY OF A BEING A BELIEVER VS A NON-BELIEVER

 

·        As Believers, we no longer have to be concerned for our eternity, it has already been decided.

·        Our joy comes from something other than the circumstances around us. Yes, there are times we allow the events or circumstances in our lives to run our emotions amuck, but once we remember that God has ultimate control over all things, our true source of joy reveals itself in our lives.

·        The object is to remember the true source of joy when we are going through tough times…

·       ASK YOURSELF:

 

o   How does understanding your eternal security impact your life on a daily basis?

 

 

 

These ASK YOURSELF sections are the questions I had the tables discuss on Friday night. I was listening to some of the discussion, and much was on relationships, which is normal for a singles group. One of the guys said he is a ‘bad picker’ (of women). I would say the same thing of myself, for the last couple of guys I have been involved with have not been… good – for one reason or another.

 

So, no matter what this passage or questions say to you, be listening for God to speak into your life. Allow Him to guide you and lead you to the life He has created for you.