In The Right Place At The Right Time

October 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Proverbs 16:9, Esther 4:14, God's planAre we truly thankful to be where we are, wherever that might be, right this moment?  Do we have an awareness of the fact that the Lord has guided our steps to this time and this place for a specific and special purpose?  I don’t know about you but I admit that I often lose sight of that fact and instead of walking in expectation and excitement of what God has planned for me I find myself just trying to muddle through and arrive at the end of the day in one piece.

Two different verses come to mind here, both of which I read on the same day as part of larger passages of scripture study.  The first is found in Proverbs and says:

A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

To me, this is very comforting and I can look back on times when I wasn’t where I needed to be in my walk with the Lord and still see how he guided my steps and brought me to the place where I am now.  In other words, his love and divine plan for me were (and are) stronger than my rebellion and even in my darkest times God still had a plan to show me his redemptive power once I yielded myself to him and asked for his help and forgiveness.

God’s grace is at work for us even when we aren’t working for him and a life that is abundant and full is available to us if we are willing to put him first.  God has the unique and remarkable ability to change our circumstances (and our hearts!) in a moment and what we perceive to be an impassable obstacle is just a speck of dust easily blown away in his sight.

The question then becomes, if God can change our circumstances in a moment why then does he allow us to go through such trials and difficulties and why does he sometimes leave us in turmoil for extended periods of time?  For one answer to that, let’s look at our second verse for today:

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”  Esther 4:14 (NIV)

Esther was a simple Jewish girl who would have been an orphan except for the kindness and care of her older cousin Mordecai.  They lived in Persia along with many other Jews at the time who were undergoing 70 years of exile as punishment for the sins of the nation of Israel.  As a displaced ethnic minority and a girl with no parents Esther was by no means in an advantageous situation.

However God had blessed her with a beautiful appearance and she was soon taken into the King’s harem where she eventually impressed him so much that she became the Queen.  During this time a plan was put into place to execute the Jews by an evil man who was close to the King and our verse of scripture is timed right after Mordecai and Esther learn of this plan being put into motion.  Mordecai writes to Esther to appeal to the King and his appeal is based on his knowledge of God’s providential hand and a strong faith in God’s ability to deliver his people despite their circumstances.  In other words Mordecai had every faith that God had placed Esther in her position as Queen to serve as an intermediary for her people and to save them from impending destruction.

If you know the story of Esther then you know that she was able to win the King’s favor despite the risk of her own life in appearing before the King without being summoned and that her courage and honesty were instrumental in the salvation of the Jews during this period of history.

Just as God used Esther, despite her situation and her circumstances, so too can he use us.  Just as Esther was placed in her situation in a time of great crisis sometimes God wants to use us during times of danger and hardship.  What we can’t forget is that the battle belongs to the Lord and if we are yielded to him then he can do amazing things through our willingness and availability.

 

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The Human Contribution To God’s Deliverance

September 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment

god's plan, faith and works, Psalm 21:31One of the best and most important steps that we can take in our Christian walk is coming to the place where we understand and agree with God’s viewpoint.  I say this in a general sense because it is a process that must be repeated over and over as our faith grows through knowledge and experience.  In other words, this understanding and agreement is not a one time occurrence but should happen many, many times throughout our lives as God reveals Himself more fully to us.

Learning to be a Christ-follower is a lifelong journey.  Wisdom and revelation are given to us as we continually seek after the heart of God through prayer, Bible study, private and corporate worship and time spent with other believers.  God made each of us unique. The way that we learn and grow is also unique and I believe that the Holy Spirit is constantly working and ministering to us to help us receive exactly what we need to progress in whatever stage of life we are in at the time.

In Proverbs 21:31 we find a truth that we can apply, if we are willing.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the Lord. Proverbs 21:31 (NKJV)

Thus far we have talked about growth, development and the progress that we are hopefully making as children of God.  All of this can loosely be thought of as preparation.  Preparation for what?  Preparation for whatever comes next in life and ultimately in eternity.  Proverbs 21:31 tells me that preparation is an expectation and not an option.  As a complete thought, this verse shows us that our preparation does not in and of itself grant us victory or deliverance, only God can do that.  But the preparation must occur.

In every challenge that we face in life or are likely to face in the future, we can apply Proverbs 21:31.  Prepare.  Make sound, Bible-based plans and put in the work that is required as a faithful laborer.   God uses the work of human hands to carry out His will and any careful study of the scriptures will reveal how God used ordinary people to do His work and to carry His message of salvation to the world.

God’s expectation has not changed and He is still seeking those who are willing to be used.  God’s plan for every problem that faces mankind involves the work of His saints, up to and including the salvation of many souls.  To use an example, it is a good thing to pray for world hunger and for starving children but real progress is made when we open up our wallets and donate food to our local food pantry and worldwide relief organizations.  No problem is insurmountable to God but it is an important revelation when we discover that God intends to use us as part of the solution and to exclude ourselves from the process is to completely miss how God intends to bring about His kingdom on Earth.

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Project 2020

October 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment

goals, plans, dreamsI started a new writing project recently, one that is quite different than anything that I have attempted before.  I don’t want to go into to much detail just yet.  Many things about it could change before it is completed but at this point there are a couple of things that I know for sure and can share.

  1. It will be one of the longest pieces that I have ever written if not the longest.  It won’t be anything like book length (at least I don’t think it will) but it will be much, much longer than the weekly blog posts.
  2. If things go as planned it will take around three years to complete and there’s a very specific reason for that length of time.
  3. I will be releasing it in stages as I reach certain milestones.
  4. The genre will be loosely “documentary” and I plan to mix my writing with photos and video.
  5. When all is said and done it might only be interesting to me but that is the kind of risk you take with something like this.

It’s hard to say exactly when the seed for this project was planted but the process that I will be documenting is based on a decision I made a couple of months ago.  From the beginning I’ve wanted to write about this particular topic but until I really thought and prayed about it I didn’t really understand how I could incorporate it in to Matthew515 properly.

That praying, thinking and planning process is continuing and will continue because this will be an on-going project with a definite goal at the end.  I said earlier that I thought it would take around three years time to fully complete and that is because I have a specific goal of age 45 for completion and I will be 45 in March of 2020.

Although 2020 is my target I always, in everything I do, want to be sensitive to God’s will and His plan for my life.  From the beginning I’ve let it be known that I give God full authority to change my course and alter or do away with the project and the goal completely.  This project is human initiative but I want it to be human initiative under God’s direction and in a way that would be pleasing to Him.  That might mean that the goal gets pushed back (if it moves at all it would be more likely to be pushed back than to move forward and those reasons will be discussed within the project itself) because ultimately the timing is in God’s hands, not mine.

On a personal level, thinking about and planning for something that is several years out is difficult for me to do.  I have always been a “right now” person (which is both good and bad) and I’ve not given the future as much thought as I probably should have.  I am not a visionary or someone who tends to set grand goals and I tend to stay focused on the here and now.  That’s not to say that I never think about what is to come (I am very excited for what God has in store for His children!) but just that I don’t tend to spend much time thinking about what happens next here on earth.  For me to have set a goal that is that far out is something brand new and feels as exciting as it does daunting.  It’s something that’s not really in my nature so I know that in order for it to be completed the focus, inspiration and energy will have to come from the Lord.

That’s all for now and I hope to have more to say about this in the very near future.  My God bless and keep you as you go!

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