Reality #4 Part 12 Truth in your Circumstances
YOU CANNOT KNOW THE TRUTH OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES UNTIL YOU HAVE HEARD FROM GOD!!!
Exodus 5-6
Moses did as he was told and asked Pharaoh to let Israel go. Pharaoh refused and multiplied the hardship on the Israelites. The Israelites turned on Moses and criticized him for causing so much trouble. What would you have done if you had been in Moses' place? The human tendency would be to assume you missed God's will. You might get mad at Israel for treating your good intentions so harshly, or you might have gotten mad at God.
Moses' story really encourages me. He blamed God and accused Him of failing to do what He promised. I guess many of us would have responded in a similar way. Moses said, "O LORD, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he had done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23). Moses was so discouraged, he was ready to quit (Exodus 6:12).
I'm glad God is patient with us, too! God took time to explain to Moses His perspective. God explained that He wanted Pharaoh to resist so the people could see God's mighty hand of deliverance. He wanted the people to come to know Him (by experience) as the great "I AM."
We can learn from Moses' example. When you face confusing circumstances, don't start blaming God. Don't just give up following Him. Go to God. Ask Him to reveal the truth of your circumstances. Ask Him to show you His perspective. Then wait on the Lord. You need to have your life radically oriented to God. The most difficult thing you will ever have to do is deny self, take up the will of God, and follow after Him. The most difficult part of your relationship to God is being God-centered. If you were to record a whole day in your life you might find that your prayers, your attitudes, your thoughts, everything about that day is radically self-centered. You may not be seeing things from God's perspective. You may try to explain to God what your perspective is. When He becomes the Lord of your life, He alone has the right to be:
1. The Focus in your life
2. The Initiator in your life
3.The Director of your life
That is what it means for Him to be Lord!!!
When the Holy Spirit talks to you, He is going to reveal Truth to you. He is going to talk to you about a Person. He is going to talk to you about Jesus. Truth is a Person! Jesus said, "I am....the truth" (John 14:6).
1. Truth in a Storm.
The disciples were in a boat in a storm. Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat. If you had gone to those disciples in the middle of that storm and said to them, "What is the truth of this situation?" what would they have said? "We perish!" Was that the truth? NO, Truth was asleep at the back of the boat. Truth is a Person. In just a moment Truth Himself would stand up, and He would still the storm. Then they knew the Truth of their circumstance. Truth is a Person who is always present in you life. You cannot know the truth of your circumstance until you have heard from God. He is the Truth! And the Truth is present and active in your life!
2. Truth at a Funeral.
Notice the difference Truth made in the following circumstance.
Luke 7:11-17
Jesus Raises a Widow's Son
"Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep.' Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.' And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has arisen among us!' and 'God has visited his people!' And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country."
If you had asked the widow who was in the funeral procession of her only son, "What's the truth of this situation?" she might have replied, "My husband died at a young age. I had one son, and I had anticipated that we would spend wonderful day together. He would care for me, and we would have fellowship together. Now my son is dead, and I must live the rest of my life alone." Was that the truth? NO, Truth was allowed to reveal Himself in this circumstance, the people "glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has risen among us'; and 'God has visited His people.' And this report about Him went throughout Judea and all the surrounding region" (v. 16-17). Never, ever determine the truth of a situation by looking at the circumstances. Don't evaluate your situation until you have heard from Jesus. He is the Truth of all your circumstances.
3. Truth with Hungry People.
In the story told in John 6:1-15 Jesus was surrounded by 5,000 hungry people. He wanted to feed them. In a test of Philip's faith, Jesus asked him where they could buy bread to feed the multitude. If you had asked the disciples at that moment about the truth of the situation, they might have said, "We can't do it. Lord, the truth of the situation is that it is impossible." Was that the truth? NO, we know the other half of the story. Wouldn't we be better off if we trusted God with the other half of the story in our lives? Truth Himself fed 5,000 men plus their families and had twelve baskets full of leftovers! I wonder if God ever tests our faith as He did Philip's. Does He say, "Feed the multitudes" and the church responds, "We don't have that much money in our budget"? Truth stands in the middle of the church, and the Head of the church says, "Believe Me. I will never give you an order that I will not release the power to enable it to happen. Trust Me, obey Me, and it will happen."
Yes, LORD!
In making a decision, the greatest difficulty may not be in choosing between good and bad, but in choosing between good and best. You may have several options that all appear to be good. The place to start is to say with all of you heart: "Lord, whatever I know to be Your will, I will do. Regardless of the cost and regardless of the adjustment, I commit myself to follow Your will. Lord, no matter what that will looks like, I will do it!"
You need to say that before you begin to seek God's will. Otherwise you do not mean, "Thy will be done." Instead, you are saying, "Thy will be done as long as it does not conflict with my will." Two words in the Christian's language cannot go together: No and Lord! If you say, "No," He is not Lord! If He really is your Lord, your answer must always be "Yes." In decision making, always begin here. Do not proceed until you can honestly say, "Whatever you want of me, Lord, I will do it."
In Christ,
David
Exodus 5-6
Moses did as he was told and asked Pharaoh to let Israel go. Pharaoh refused and multiplied the hardship on the Israelites. The Israelites turned on Moses and criticized him for causing so much trouble. What would you have done if you had been in Moses' place? The human tendency would be to assume you missed God's will. You might get mad at Israel for treating your good intentions so harshly, or you might have gotten mad at God.
Moses' story really encourages me. He blamed God and accused Him of failing to do what He promised. I guess many of us would have responded in a similar way. Moses said, "O LORD, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he had done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23). Moses was so discouraged, he was ready to quit (Exodus 6:12).
I'm glad God is patient with us, too! God took time to explain to Moses His perspective. God explained that He wanted Pharaoh to resist so the people could see God's mighty hand of deliverance. He wanted the people to come to know Him (by experience) as the great "I AM."
We can learn from Moses' example. When you face confusing circumstances, don't start blaming God. Don't just give up following Him. Go to God. Ask Him to reveal the truth of your circumstances. Ask Him to show you His perspective. Then wait on the Lord. You need to have your life radically oriented to God. The most difficult thing you will ever have to do is deny self, take up the will of God, and follow after Him. The most difficult part of your relationship to God is being God-centered. If you were to record a whole day in your life you might find that your prayers, your attitudes, your thoughts, everything about that day is radically self-centered. You may not be seeing things from God's perspective. You may try to explain to God what your perspective is. When He becomes the Lord of your life, He alone has the right to be:
1. The Focus in your life
2. The Initiator in your life
3.The Director of your life
That is what it means for Him to be Lord!!!
When the Holy Spirit talks to you, He is going to reveal Truth to you. He is going to talk to you about a Person. He is going to talk to you about Jesus. Truth is a Person! Jesus said, "I am....the truth" (John 14:6).
1. Truth in a Storm.
The disciples were in a boat in a storm. Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat. If you had gone to those disciples in the middle of that storm and said to them, "What is the truth of this situation?" what would they have said? "We perish!" Was that the truth? NO, Truth was asleep at the back of the boat. Truth is a Person. In just a moment Truth Himself would stand up, and He would still the storm. Then they knew the Truth of their circumstance. Truth is a Person who is always present in you life. You cannot know the truth of your circumstance until you have heard from God. He is the Truth! And the Truth is present and active in your life!
2. Truth at a Funeral.
Notice the difference Truth made in the following circumstance.
Luke 7:11-17
Jesus Raises a Widow's Son
"Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep.' Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.' And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has arisen among us!' and 'God has visited his people!' And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country."
If you had asked the widow who was in the funeral procession of her only son, "What's the truth of this situation?" she might have replied, "My husband died at a young age. I had one son, and I had anticipated that we would spend wonderful day together. He would care for me, and we would have fellowship together. Now my son is dead, and I must live the rest of my life alone." Was that the truth? NO, Truth was allowed to reveal Himself in this circumstance, the people "glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has risen among us'; and 'God has visited His people.' And this report about Him went throughout Judea and all the surrounding region" (v. 16-17). Never, ever determine the truth of a situation by looking at the circumstances. Don't evaluate your situation until you have heard from Jesus. He is the Truth of all your circumstances.
3. Truth with Hungry People.
In the story told in John 6:1-15 Jesus was surrounded by 5,000 hungry people. He wanted to feed them. In a test of Philip's faith, Jesus asked him where they could buy bread to feed the multitude. If you had asked the disciples at that moment about the truth of the situation, they might have said, "We can't do it. Lord, the truth of the situation is that it is impossible." Was that the truth? NO, we know the other half of the story. Wouldn't we be better off if we trusted God with the other half of the story in our lives? Truth Himself fed 5,000 men plus their families and had twelve baskets full of leftovers! I wonder if God ever tests our faith as He did Philip's. Does He say, "Feed the multitudes" and the church responds, "We don't have that much money in our budget"? Truth stands in the middle of the church, and the Head of the church says, "Believe Me. I will never give you an order that I will not release the power to enable it to happen. Trust Me, obey Me, and it will happen."
Yes, LORD!
In making a decision, the greatest difficulty may not be in choosing between good and bad, but in choosing between good and best. You may have several options that all appear to be good. The place to start is to say with all of you heart: "Lord, whatever I know to be Your will, I will do. Regardless of the cost and regardless of the adjustment, I commit myself to follow Your will. Lord, no matter what that will looks like, I will do it!"
You need to say that before you begin to seek God's will. Otherwise you do not mean, "Thy will be done." Instead, you are saying, "Thy will be done as long as it does not conflict with my will." Two words in the Christian's language cannot go together: No and Lord! If you say, "No," He is not Lord! If He really is your Lord, your answer must always be "Yes." In decision making, always begin here. Do not proceed until you can honestly say, "Whatever you want of me, Lord, I will do it."
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 8:16 AM
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