Entrusted

On January 14, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 37: 5 & 7                    God’s Word

Entrust your ways to the Lord. Trust him, and he will act on your behalf. Surrender yourself to the LORD, and wait patiently for him.

This is one of my favorite Bible passages. It is important to me because it speaks to an issue that I constantly must consider. This passage is about the partnership with God. When we partner with Him, then the work load is shared. We have our part and He has His. The key is for us to do our part and to stay out of His part. Therein lies the challenge but also ultimate success.

I believe in working. In fact, I believe in hard work and working smart. Most of all, though, I have learned that neither of those eclipses the number one guideline which is, let God lead. This reminds me of a verse that we should all memorize. It is Proverb 10: 22. The NASB and the King James read essentially the same, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” I think few of us have understood what “He adds no sorrow to it means.” The Hebrew Bible clears this up for us. It reads, “It is the blessing of the Lord which makes rich, and your toil adds nothing to it.” The “sorrow” written of in the other translations is the sorrow from toil. There is no travail in success when the Lord is in it with us. Our “toil” isn’t what will bring success. It is He and His blessing which provide the success for each undertaking. The New International Version reads, “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”

God isn’t against hard work, nor is He against working smart but what He really wants us to learn is to work wisely. That is an entirely different deal. Spiritually appraised people learn to work first in their spirits by connecting with the spirit of wisdom. Here is where patience comes in. The Passion Translation says to “commit everything you do to the Lord.” We are to entrust all our ways, all our plans, dreams and assignments to Him as the first step. Then we surrender ourselves and our projects fully to Him. He may have you working really hard for a time, but it is to be at His direction. Sometimes the thing He will tell you to do is to meditate. Okay, that does not fit into western thinking, but God knows that sometimes that is the best thing to do. And that is the point. We are supposed to surrender our thinking to His ways.

One last thought, none of this works without first seeking the Lord. The whole idea is partnering with Him, tuning into Him and allowing Him to guide you. Your work load is to be managed by the Father. We are supposed to wait patiently for Him but only after we have surrendered ourselves to Him and entrusted Him with our goals. So, this does not mean watching television while we wait upon God. It means seeking Him and meditating on Him and His Word. See, that is your part. Then the answers to all the questions will be presented to you. This waiting is in faith. It is expectantly listening. You are to be co-laborers. That does mean you work but it is at the Father’s direction. He will show you the way when you commit all your plans and hopes to Him.

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Toil

On December 16, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ecclesiastes 2: 26

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight.

We were never meant to live off of the sweat of our brow. We are supposed to live through the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and joy from the Lord, our God. Toil is for the sinner. Wow! That is an amazing and powerful statement. He, the sinner, labors in order to give to the one “who is good in God’s sight.”

None of us were good in God’s sight but now, because of Jesus, when God looks at us, He sees the beautiful visage of Jesus. Because Jesus has clothed us with his glory we are “good” in God’s sight. In Jesus we have access to all that God is including His wisdom and knowledge. You are meant to live on the daily influx of God’s wisdom, joy and knowledge. Does this challenge your thinking a little? Our occupations ought to be what we do in order to make the world a better place. Our living, our sustenance is supposed to come from God.

Sinners are supposed to pour into our bosom. We shouldn’t work for a living. We should give for a living. We are not supposed to be so busy that we cannot even call a sick friend or take time with our kids. We are to use our time to commune with God and receive His wisdom, knowledge and joy. Then we can take all that God teaches and shows us to the sinner and help them to be beautiful in God’s eyes. It is hard to accomplish the big tasks of the world, the global issues of humanity when we have to work ten hours a day just to make ends meet. Who shall go to the lost and hurting? We haven’t the time to slow down and hear the voice of God. He is speaking to us today. What is He saying? What does He want us to do with our time? The answer is not that He wants us to work ourselves to death. He wants us to position ourselves to receive His wisdom, His knowledge and His joy. Then we take what He gives us and give it away to those who are toiling, to all who are lost. The sinner lays up treasure for us but we receive treasure from heaven and dispense it to them so that they can rise up from drudgery and despair.

Our God is our provider. He didn’t call us to “make a living.” He called us to Himself. He means to provide and He is, but we have to get a big enough revelation of these important verses if we are going to live the lifestyle God created for us. It is a challenge. We can live as God designed, but we must first allow our minds and hearts to accept His vision of life. This is pretty big, I will grant you but it is also the Word and intent of God. If we can accept it, we could actually begin to live this way. That would be amazing. We could do so much for the Kingdom of God if we were not bogged down in our labors.

Think about today’s verse. Roll it around in your mind. Is God a man that He can lie? Did He mean these words when He gave them? Why did God make sure this verse ended up in the Bible? You are meant for higher things. God is calling. Can you hear Him?

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