Reality #6 Part 2 Adjustments, Surrender, and Dependence
Different Kinds of Adjustments
What kind of adjustments are required? Trying to answer that question is like trying to list all the things God might ask you to do. The list could be endless. I can, however, point you to some examples and give you some general categories of adjustments that may be required.
1. In your circumstances (like job, home, finances, and others)
2. In your relationships (family, friends, business associates, and others)
3. In your thinking (prejudices, methods, your potential, and others)
4. In your commitments (to family, church, job, plans, tradition, and others)
5. In your actions (how you pray, give, serve, and others)
6. In your beliefs (about God, His purposes, His ways, your relationship to Him, and others)
The list could go on and on. The major adjustment will come at the point of acting on your faith. When you face the crisis of belief, you must decide what you believe about God. That mental decision may be the easy part. The hard part is adjusting your life to God and taking an action that demonstrates your faith. You may be called upon to attempt things that only God can do, where formerly you may have attempted only that which you knew you could do.
Sometimes an adjustment may involve several of these areas at once. For instance, Peter was a faithful Jew. He only ate kosher food. He had no dealings with "unclean" Gentiles. One day on the housetop, God interrupted Peter with a vision. God had to convince Peter that all He had created was not to be called unclean. Peter then was told to go with some Gentiles to preach to Cornelius and his household. Peter's experience with Cornelius probably required adjustments in Peter's thinking and beliefs about what is clean and unclean, his commitments to the traditions of the Jews, and his actions regarding fellowship with Gentiles (Acts 10:1-20). Peter made the necessary adjustments and obeyed God. When he did, God worked through him to bring Cornelius's whole household to Christ. Being able to place a title on an adjustment is not as important as your identifying what change God wants you to make to Him, His purposes, or His ways. He will help you know what you must do. Then you must choose to make the adjustment.
Absolute Surrender
God frequently requires adjustments in areas you have never considered in the past. You may have heard someone say something like this: "Don't ever tell God something you will not do. That is what He will ask you to do." God is not looking for ways to make you "squirm." He does, however, want to be Lord of your life. Whenever you identify a place where you refuse to allow His Lordship, that is a place He will go to work. He is interested in absolute surrender. God may or may not require you to do that very thing you identified, but He will keep working until you are willing for Him to be Lord of all! Because God loves you, His will is always best! Any adjustment God expects you to make is for your good. As you follow Him, the time may come that your life and future may depend on your adjusting quickly to God's directives. The adjusting is always to a Person. You adjust your life to God. You adjust your viewpoints to be like His. You adjust your ways to be like His ways. After you make the necessary adjustments, He will tell you what to do next to obey Him. When you obey Him, you will experience Him doing through you something only God can do.
Some people question whether major adjustments are always necessary. Anytime you go from where you are to where God is working, from your way of thinking to God's way of thinking, from your ways to God's ways, from your purposes to His purposes, a Major adjustment will be required. Now, you may make some adjustments at a point in you life so that you will not have to make further major adjustments when God gives you the next assignment. Sooner or later you will have to make the major adjustments to join Him.
Total Dependence on God
Another adjustment that is a part of knowing and doing the will of God is that of coming to a total dependence on God to complete what He wants to do through you. Jesus said our relationship to Him would be like a vine and its branches. He said, "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). When you are God's servant, you must remain within that intimate relationship in order for Him to complete His work through you. You must depend on God alone. The adjustment requires moving from doing work for God according to your abilities, your gifts, your likes and dislikes, and your goals to being totally dependent on God and His working and His resources. This is a major adjustment! It is never easy to make. Read the following Scriptures and notice why you must depend on God to carry out His purposes.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
"The LORD of hosts has sworn: 'As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.'" Isaiah 14:24
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." Isaiah 46:9-11
Without God at work in you, you can do nothing to bear kingdom fruit. As you are crucified with Christ, He lives through you to accomplish His purposes by His grace. When God purposes to do something, He guarantees that it will come to pass. He is the One who will accomplish what He purposes to do. If you depend on anything other than God, you will be asking for failure in kingdom terms.
Waiting on the Lord
Sometimes as you begin making adjustments, God will require that you wait on Him. This is not because God cannot keep up with you or that He does not know what to do next. God is interested in a love relationship with you. Your waiting on Him develops your absolute dependence on Him. Your waiting on Him assures that you will act on His timing and not your own. The Scriptures frequently commend waiting on the Lord:
"O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." Psalm 5:3
"O Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20
"Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off." Psalm 37:34
"But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer." Psalm 38:15
"But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
You may think of waiting as a passive, inactive time. Waiting on the Lord is anything but inactive. While you wait on Him, you will be praying with a passion to know Him, His purposes, and His ways. You will be watching circumstances and asking God to interpret them by revealing to you His perspective. You will be sharing with other believers to find out what God is saying to them. As you wait on the Lord, you will be very active in asking, seeking, and knocking: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8).
While you wait, continue doing the last thing God told you to do. In waiting, you are shifting the responsibility of the outcome to God--where it belongs. Then when God gives you specific guidance, He will do through you more in days and weeks than you could ever accomplish in years of labor. Waiting on Him is always worth the wait. His timing and His ways are always right. You must depend on Him to guide you in His way and in His timing to accomplish His purpose.
In Christ,
David
What kind of adjustments are required? Trying to answer that question is like trying to list all the things God might ask you to do. The list could be endless. I can, however, point you to some examples and give you some general categories of adjustments that may be required.
1. In your circumstances (like job, home, finances, and others)
2. In your relationships (family, friends, business associates, and others)
3. In your thinking (prejudices, methods, your potential, and others)
4. In your commitments (to family, church, job, plans, tradition, and others)
5. In your actions (how you pray, give, serve, and others)
6. In your beliefs (about God, His purposes, His ways, your relationship to Him, and others)
The list could go on and on. The major adjustment will come at the point of acting on your faith. When you face the crisis of belief, you must decide what you believe about God. That mental decision may be the easy part. The hard part is adjusting your life to God and taking an action that demonstrates your faith. You may be called upon to attempt things that only God can do, where formerly you may have attempted only that which you knew you could do.
Sometimes an adjustment may involve several of these areas at once. For instance, Peter was a faithful Jew. He only ate kosher food. He had no dealings with "unclean" Gentiles. One day on the housetop, God interrupted Peter with a vision. God had to convince Peter that all He had created was not to be called unclean. Peter then was told to go with some Gentiles to preach to Cornelius and his household. Peter's experience with Cornelius probably required adjustments in Peter's thinking and beliefs about what is clean and unclean, his commitments to the traditions of the Jews, and his actions regarding fellowship with Gentiles (Acts 10:1-20). Peter made the necessary adjustments and obeyed God. When he did, God worked through him to bring Cornelius's whole household to Christ. Being able to place a title on an adjustment is not as important as your identifying what change God wants you to make to Him, His purposes, or His ways. He will help you know what you must do. Then you must choose to make the adjustment.
Absolute Surrender
God frequently requires adjustments in areas you have never considered in the past. You may have heard someone say something like this: "Don't ever tell God something you will not do. That is what He will ask you to do." God is not looking for ways to make you "squirm." He does, however, want to be Lord of your life. Whenever you identify a place where you refuse to allow His Lordship, that is a place He will go to work. He is interested in absolute surrender. God may or may not require you to do that very thing you identified, but He will keep working until you are willing for Him to be Lord of all! Because God loves you, His will is always best! Any adjustment God expects you to make is for your good. As you follow Him, the time may come that your life and future may depend on your adjusting quickly to God's directives. The adjusting is always to a Person. You adjust your life to God. You adjust your viewpoints to be like His. You adjust your ways to be like His ways. After you make the necessary adjustments, He will tell you what to do next to obey Him. When you obey Him, you will experience Him doing through you something only God can do.
Some people question whether major adjustments are always necessary. Anytime you go from where you are to where God is working, from your way of thinking to God's way of thinking, from your ways to God's ways, from your purposes to His purposes, a Major adjustment will be required. Now, you may make some adjustments at a point in you life so that you will not have to make further major adjustments when God gives you the next assignment. Sooner or later you will have to make the major adjustments to join Him.
Total Dependence on God
Another adjustment that is a part of knowing and doing the will of God is that of coming to a total dependence on God to complete what He wants to do through you. Jesus said our relationship to Him would be like a vine and its branches. He said, "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). When you are God's servant, you must remain within that intimate relationship in order for Him to complete His work through you. You must depend on God alone. The adjustment requires moving from doing work for God according to your abilities, your gifts, your likes and dislikes, and your goals to being totally dependent on God and His working and His resources. This is a major adjustment! It is never easy to make. Read the following Scriptures and notice why you must depend on God to carry out His purposes.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
"The LORD of hosts has sworn: 'As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.'" Isaiah 14:24
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." Isaiah 46:9-11
Without God at work in you, you can do nothing to bear kingdom fruit. As you are crucified with Christ, He lives through you to accomplish His purposes by His grace. When God purposes to do something, He guarantees that it will come to pass. He is the One who will accomplish what He purposes to do. If you depend on anything other than God, you will be asking for failure in kingdom terms.
Waiting on the Lord
Sometimes as you begin making adjustments, God will require that you wait on Him. This is not because God cannot keep up with you or that He does not know what to do next. God is interested in a love relationship with you. Your waiting on Him develops your absolute dependence on Him. Your waiting on Him assures that you will act on His timing and not your own. The Scriptures frequently commend waiting on the Lord:
"O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." Psalm 5:3
"O Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20
"Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off." Psalm 37:34
"But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer." Psalm 38:15
"But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
You may think of waiting as a passive, inactive time. Waiting on the Lord is anything but inactive. While you wait on Him, you will be praying with a passion to know Him, His purposes, and His ways. You will be watching circumstances and asking God to interpret them by revealing to you His perspective. You will be sharing with other believers to find out what God is saying to them. As you wait on the Lord, you will be very active in asking, seeking, and knocking: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8).
While you wait, continue doing the last thing God told you to do. In waiting, you are shifting the responsibility of the outcome to God--where it belongs. Then when God gives you specific guidance, He will do through you more in days and weeks than you could ever accomplish in years of labor. Waiting on Him is always worth the wait. His timing and His ways are always right. You must depend on Him to guide you in His way and in His timing to accomplish His purpose.
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 7:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home