Accept the Task! from 2005-In His Word 1-20-2021
How
many times have you come to God asking for His direction with the back thought
of “what's in it for me?” when He gives you that direction?
Or
when you are given a task to accomplish; do you wonder why you should be the
one to do it when you are not capable, trained enough, or knowledgeable enough
to lead a class, gather a group or put for the words He gave you to share?
Do
you know what the tasks He brings gives us?
A
task that takes:
Time--
will bring exhaustion! Yes, it will but with that exhaustion God will bring you
strength to endure to the end.
Money--
will make you feel penniless! Perhaps for a moment but as we know money is
flighty. The love of it is at the root of all evil so we need to be able to
allow God to use what He gives us for His glory, including our finances. If He
should choose to multiply it back to us, so be it, but if not, we need to be
okay with that because He will bring us through what He puts us into. What He
puts us into, not what we think we should spend money on so we can say we did
it. Remember that part.
Strength--
A task that God gives us will no doubt often take our strength for the moment;
but He will restore that and be our strength! For when we are weak, He is
strong! Using up our strength for His glory will give Him a chance to work
through us and show us just how close He really is to us!
Faith--
to complete the task He has given us it sometimes takes a lot of faith because
we do always see the end of the task while in the middle of it. Often things
happen which will cause us to wonder why we took it on in the first place, but
God tells us to have faith! And He will give us hope to finish the task!
Obedience--
the big O' is the hardest thing to give up to God it seems. We in our
carnality, or our flesh, want to do what will preserve our livelihood, not do
something that will make us go out of our way, or beyond what we think we can
do.
When
we choose to be obedient to God's task for us, we will find God's purpose for
our lives. We will also receive God's praise, and most of all we will give all
the Glory to God and we will like it that way!
When
we are obedient to the task God gives us, we will have peace knowing it was
God, not man asking us to do it in the first place.
Something
to remember when we step out into the task, He has given us is that it is not
about what is in it for us, it is for whats in it for Him.
So,
if we are doing this great thing for God, and it is a great thing if it is for
God even if it’s just bringing someone a cake, or sharing a life story with a
friend that encourages them to have hope for tomorrow knowing God will bring
her through what they are walking in at this time.
We
are human, but we do not wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons,
not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to
destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from
knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey
Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who
remains disobedient. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Something
to remember...
Anything
worth doing is worth doing right, no slacking and being lazy, do it right the
first time.
Why?
If we do not do it right the first time, we will have to try again. Now think
for a moment.
If
God told you to do something and you were lazy about it or lackadaisical and
put it off until the last minute, then ran through it like water over clay; it
could be likened to a child being told to clean his room and he puts it off
until the deadline and runs through stuffing things in closets and drawers and
under the bed, but it is not clean. The job is not done until it is done right.
Do
it for the glory of God, not the glory of men. Why? If we are praised by men
here on earth, there is our glory and praise, but would you not rather have the
praise and glory of God over men? It would be so much more praise, so much more
blessing coming from God.
Do
it for God's approval, not just mans.
Again, man is fallible, God infallible. Personally, if man thinks I am
stupid for following Christ I will not stop following Him; so why would I care
what man thinks of me? Only for the glory of God, if we do things for God, He
will get the glory when He gives us the approval to accomplish the task.
…A person with a changed heart seeks praise
from God, not from people. Romans 2:9b.
God's
provision or mans? Which one are you looking for? God will provide all my needs
according to His riches in glory. Man may give a little provision as they see
fit. Hmm... I think that speaks for itself!
Do you look at things according to the outward
appearance? 2 Corinthians 10:7
Man's
approval is temporal, God's approval is eternal.
Man's
approval is self-seeking, God's approval is uplifting.
Man's
praise is shallow; God's praise is deep.
Therefore,
we follow after God, not man.
When
people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is
for the Lord to commend them. 2 Corinthians 10:18
Dear
Heavenly Father, help us to stay focused on the task at hand; fulfilling your
purpose in our lives. Help us to see that the problems in this world are
limited but your answers are unlimited. Bless us today with direction, guidance,
and the faith to follow the walk you place before us, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Suggested
reading: 2 Corinthians 10:1-18, Romans 2:1-28, Psalm 22:1-29, Psalm 8:1-9,