Abba, Father, I …

This i a continuation of “What is God doing nowadays?“.

Now that we Christian have the power to move things along or be moved by the Hand of God as He does His work of moving things along, how do we ensure that we do not deviate from the work that He is doing through us?

Here is an illustration i got from somewhere.

Easy battle. Enjoyable work.

I was in this place. Where, i do not know. It was dark all around but there was enough light that you could see shapes in the darkness. All around a battle was raging. But the fighting was with words. Speak the word, and the enemies who you could see coming at you would be pushed back.  The intersting thing is that whether they were many or few, i managed to always push them back. And this went on and on, but i never tired.

In the second scene, the  battle is now done, and the fighters regrouped. Everyone came around to share what their work was all about. Every worker was excited about what he did, and was overly excited when explaining the details of what they did. And each person was eager to recruit more people to go  join them in doing what they ( the worker) was doing. It seemed, each person had the perfect job.

Here is the interpretation of that illustration.

Hard work, yet effortless, untiring

How is that even possible, to do a hard job and not be tired? Because, as we said in the last post, it is not you that is doing the working, but it is the Father ( through His Spirit) who is  working through you, the vessel of his choice.

Therefore, it is impossible to burn out!

³¹ But those who wait on 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 NKJV)

Secondly, that work  you are moved to do for the Lord, you want to do it all your life, and you enjoy it so much you would recommend and recruit others to join you. It is not a chore, or like these 9-5 jobs people do, that one gets  paid for. For these type of jobs, most people live for Friday or payday ( Payday is great, of course).

No, it is living, a lifestyle one enjoys.

Apostle Paul had completed his task and given a chance to leave the earth. Paul’s  life on earth was full of hardships and persecution. He  really ought to have jumped at the chance of retirement  and be with the Lord ( after all the Lord had told him that he was done). He instead chose to stay on and assist the new Christians. This is because he enjoyed his assignments.

I have done this

If you keenly observe some workers in God’s field, you notice one common recurring theme. At the very beginning, their conversation is heavy on “the Lord”  and light on “I”:

“The Lord made it possible for us to do this” “Without the hand of the Lord, we could not have done this”

But as time passes, and doing “it” appears easy, the conversation somehow changes.

“I build my ministrry  starting with 20 people.” “In my book, I will show you how..”, “supporters at the $10,000 level get a personal call from me..”

Does that mean one should never say “my ministry” or “i did this”? No. But those articles ( I ,me ) may be the tip of a bigger iceberg lying underneath. They may be pride speaking. Or a sign that the worker has since left the Lord’s track and is now beating his own path:

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. ( John 5:19-20)

Can you confidently say that of your work, that “ I can of Myself do nothing.”(John 5:30)?

Signs that it is now you working

How can you easily tell whether a ministry is personal? Here are further signs that it is indeed you who is working:

(1) unceasing activity, organizing, worldly fundraising, making sure the program goes according to plan.

Planing is not bad. But is the plan so rigid that it has no place for “real people” seeking help?. Is your program so perfect and sacred that you are guilty of turning away people whose “healing” would interfere with your work?

¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” ( Luke 13:14)

Do not be guilty of serving the ministry. The ministry ought to serve you and the family of God.

The work is urgent, yes, and salvation is now, but the Lord is never in a hurry in doing his work nor without resources . Are rules being bent in raising funds for the work? Are people being hoodwinled or cajoled to give funds?

(ii) So busy working and helping people,  that you have no time for yourself to talk with your boss or the Father about the direction of your work:

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

How will you know whether He has changed direction from what He told you to do initially, if you do not take time to talk with Him constantly?

(iii) a feel of tiredness in one’s activity, the activity is becoming a chore. This is a sure sign that you may be deviating and using own muscles to do the work.

It is said of Moses ( and Caleb ) that despite being old ( in the 120’s ) they felt like young people. Paul never complains of being exhausted. He could go on and on, if allowed, and indeed he chose to stay on and work rather than retire to be with the Lord.

They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

(iv) wanting to do it all by ownself, not giving chance to another to “rise” up and be “seen”. You want to be the only star. You are the pastor/teacher/healer/counselor/CEO…

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ( Ephesians 4:11-13)

Sure Christ could do it ALL. But that is because He was the WHOLE. But you as an individual are not the whole, but a part of the whole ( that body of  Christ, the  church). The whole should do it ALL. The  parts work the  parts assigned to them by the master of the whole.

²⁸ And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ( 1 Corinthians 12:28-30)

If in the circle that completes your entire life ( you/your church/the ministry/your community) some  works are lacking, think a little about it. Could it be that there is stunted growth in some of the members, in that circle, hence the inability to do ALL the whole could and should be doing? Or could it be that you have drawn a tight circle that excludes parts that could make the whole? And are you in your deficient circle explaining away the lack of the other works?

Here are some explaining aways i have heard from well-respected teachers:

• “There is no healing today. By his stripes we were healed, it was  meant spiritual healing”
• “Every Christian has been baptisped by the Holy Spirit, so you do not need to be filled by the Spirit”
• “Miracles was for Jesus’ time, to validate his ministry to the people. Now that we know the truth, there is no need for miracles..”