STAY... part 1

"Stay there until I tell you" -Matt 2:13

STAY... such a hard word to comprehend, understand, and obey. In our many lessons of obedience and sacrifice that we learn on this earth as believers and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, how could one word be such a struggle? Pastor Greg Laurie often says (paraphrased) that if you have a SMALL God, you've got BIG problems, but if you have a BIG God, then you have SMALL problems. That is not something he says easily nor is it a statement I easily quote. It's not to say that the trials, struggles and mountains in our lives are unimportant, but compared to the God we serve, they are minuscule- nothing He can't handle. It is only through experiencing His Sovereignty and love first hand that we come to understand that truth and not be offended by it. Max Lucado has said, "God loves us just the way we are, BUT He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us to be just like Jesus" (emphasis added). "BUT"... that word is so crucial in so many bible passages and so crucial in this quote, putting more emphasis on the latter part of the statement than the first.

James has said, "count it all joy when you fall into various trials... that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:2-3). It is the heart surgery that is done within you when in trials that God's purpose is seen greatest; His sovereign and almighty power becomes glorified through us as we choose to trust and not question. Who are we to question the will of the Father? Martin Luther once said 'A true believer will crucify, or put to death, the question, 'Why?' He will simply obey without questioning.' And I refuse to be one of those people who 'unless... [I] see miraculous signs and wonders... will never believe" (John 4:48). I will obey without questioning." When Paul prayed for God to take away his "thorn in the flesh", He responded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12: 9). In Isaiah 41:10 the Lord promises "Fear not for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strength you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand". And again in verse 13 of the same chapter the Lord declares, "For I, the Lord your God, WILL hold your right hand. Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you". Verse 14 goes on with "I WILL help you,' says the Lord and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel". What beautiful, powerful promises those are!! The Lord promises that if we go to Him, surrender to Him, HE WILL help us and hold us up! Just as He promises Paul "MY STRENGTH is made perfect in weakness" (emphasis added).

We need to lean on God in times of trials and suffering. We must go to Him for our strength. We must trust when we don't understand. We must have faith and surrender to the will of the Lord. Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding". So what does true, complete surrender to God look like? How do we surrender to God all of our heart when our lives our turned upside down? When everything we once knew or understood, gets questioned, upturned, and changed? When everything in his life was turned upside down, Job responded "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10a). The enemy was trying to pull Job down and get him to abandon the Lord, yet "in all this Job did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:10b). We have different insight into Job's life and struggles because we are able to read the conversations that took place between Satan and the Lord. However, Job was not privy to this knowledge. All he knew was that one day everything in his life was great, and the next it was all gone, his life was turned upside down and he was left in the ruins of despair and grief. Later on in his story, Job says "God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?... He does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number... If He takes away, who can hinder Him? who can say to Him, 'what are You doing? " (Job 9:4, 10, 12). Job was in great despair, he was desperate. While Job was not perfect or without sin, his desperation and faith led him to admitting and proclaiming the Lord as sovereign. Job is merely an example of how to handle adversity and tragedy; he persevered in faith and integrity and was greatly blessed at the end of his end by our tender and merciful Lord.

So what are we to do with life changes? When we were prepared to stay and are called to "go"?When we are prepared to "go" and the Lord says "stay"? We must remember that the Lord is working in and through every aspect of our lives and sometimes, just as Abraham learned, we are merely meant to show our faithfulness by starting a path where we were never meant to reach the end of the road. The Lord told Abraham "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen. 22:12). "For now I know"... taking Isaac to the alter was all that Abraham was meant to accomplish on that path. When he proved he was willing to serve and follow, the Lord took him and his son on a different path. God never closes a door before He's opened another.

It's so easy in this world to question the will of the Father because there is no way we could ever comprehend it this side of heaven. It's so easy to ask "Why" or to sometimes think that "I don't like this plan, I don't like this road I'm on... When can we go on a different road Father?" What's important in our frailty however is that we take those thoughts captive to the Lord and obey (2 Cor. 10:5). We must follow Jesus' example in the Garden when He "fell on His face" and cried out to the Father "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me"(Matt 26:39a). Jesus prayed about His "thorn in the flesh" just as Paul did, yet Jesus concluded His prayer with "nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39b). There it is again, "nevertheless" or "but"... makes the second half of this verse of more significance than the first. It is Jesus' example here that I realize I must follow, must continue to ingrain in my responses. The key to encountering trials or mountains in our lives is more than just taking them to the Lord in prayer (for we should be taking everything to the Lord in prayer); the key is faithfully praying and trusting in the Lord Almighty's sovereign power. His will will be done and we must trust in that. "[He] will never leave us or forsake us" (Deut 31:6,8). "God is faithful, He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear" (1 Cor 10:13). The Lord's ways truly are unknown and unquestionable; His sovereignty is incontestable. I pray that I would get away from asking "why" with an attitude of complaint and instead faithfully and trustingly pray as Jesus did, "Not my will... but Your will be done". May we pray as the humble father did in one of the miracles, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). While we have the amazing privilege of being real with God with our emotions, I pray that I continue to get away from the question "why" and instead ask "how". "Lord, how can You use me in this?... how can I glorify You through this?... how can I serve You with this or in this?" More than we need an answer to life's problems or questions, we desperately need to cleave to our BIG God and rest in His "peace which surpasses all understanding" for He will "guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:7).

Be still my restless heart, for the whole world is a mission field.

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Gen 18:14.

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him" Ps. 37:7

References:

All scripture NKJV

Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado