– 1 Kings 19:9
So . . . What Are You Doing Here?
What a great question! I love the way God—the God of the Angel Armies; the God who knows everything; the God who directs our paths and gives us purpose—asks us questions He already knows the answer to. I think He does it so we can hear for ourselves how pathetic we sound as we hang our head, look at our shuffling feet, shrug our shoulders, and meekly whisper "nuthin."
God has given each one of us an assignment. Each assignment is planned out and set up according to the capacity God has given us to successfully accomplish it, and He leaves it up to us to make sure that it is completed according to His plan and purpose. The problem we run into is that sometimes, we are only wiling to go so far before we get tired and decide it's time to take a spiritual nap.
For example, you know in your heart that God has called you to teach a Bible study class, and for years you have faithfully served, and while at first, it was a joy to do the prep-work and you delighted in seeing those eager faces each Sunday morning, but lately it has become more of a drag than a delight. You've lost the enthusiasm, the drive, and the desire as you've seen your class numbers dwindle and the students no longer seem to care. So you decide to take a break for a while, even though you haven't been given clear direction from God to take a break, you take one anyway, reasoning that when you've become refreshed you'll start up again.
Here's another: God has directed you to a new church; one that is vibrant, and growing rapidly, and the Holy Spirit is moving in people's hearts each week. You're excited about your new church, and it's great to see God moving and to see peoples lives changing, but you haven't gotten involved and your reasoning is that you just want to observe for a while, even though you know God sent you to there to be more than just a seat warmer. You figure that you'll wait until someone asks you for help, but until then, you'll just enjoy the great ride.
In each of those cases God wants to know . . . "What are you doing here?" He's asking because you're sure not doing what He's called you to do. He figures you must have a very good reason for ignoring the plan He's given you. I mean, your own plan must be pretty good if it trumps God's plan – right? Hmmmm . . . I don't think so.
It's time to be who and what God created us to be – and there are many more examples of ways we shirk our God-given responsibilities and the reasons probably even sound pretty convincing. The plain and simple truth however, is that It's time to wake up from that nap and to carry out the work we were designed for. It's time to BE Christians and to continue DOING Christ's work so that God's plan for our lives can blossom and shine in the fullness of His Glory. It's time to let God know that we will continue doing what He's called us to do, even when we're tired, or when no one else seems to care, or if life is just too hard at the moment, or whatever else you can think of . . . It's time to fulfill our purpose as servants of the Most High God.
If everyone purposed to do the work God designed them to do, this world would be much different and the church would lead the way in showing the Love of Christ from one end of the earth to the other. Wouldn't that be a great answer to God's question?
Prayer
Father, forgive us for the times when we look at our circumstances and we make them bigger than You. Help us to remember that Your work is more important than our will. Renew in us the passion for serving so that You will never have to ask us what it is that we are doing. Let Your plan and purpose override our pettiness, My You be Glorified in all that we do!
Have a Blessed weekend everyone!
– Richard
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