Thought for the week of October 1… Stand there
Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
A new “Adult Sabbath School Study Guide” lesson quarterly for our fourth quarter of 2023 titled “God’s Mission, My Mission”, and our first lesson titled “God’s Mission to Us: Part 1”. Whenever we start a new quarterly, I always do two things. First, I read the introduction carefully. It is the guide to the goal the contributor(s) want to achieve for us, the students. Second, I look through the index of weekly lessons and peruse each lesson quickly, to see in real terms the path to that goal.
In the introduction, the heading reads, “Quit Talking and Start Doing Something!”. A title with which we can all identify. But perhaps because of my tendency to question and probe, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Did God always say something like this?” Does He always have this issue with us? That we are loathe to move out of our comfort zone? Or does He sometimes have an issue with us “doing something” which only hinders His work?
It reminds me of the Children of Israel… the Red Sea before them, Pharoah’s army behind them, and the mountains on the remaining sides hemming them in. What did God say to them? Did He tell them to “Start doing something”? No, He did not. “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever’.” (Exodus 14:13).
In this case, God did not say, “Don’t just stand there, do something”. Instead, God is saying in effect, “Don’t just do something, stand there”. Usually, our self-motivated attempts to “work the works of God…” (John 6:28) are so misguided… so impossible. Instead, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29).
In the verses quoted, God is not telling us that our “working” is nothing. He is not telling us to do nothing. Even at the Red Sea, the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward” (Exodus 14:15). God does not want us to just sit in the lawn chair drinking lemonade and watch Him. No! He wants us to follow Him. Without Him leading, we are hopelessly following our own reasoning (horrors!). Like the apostles at Pentecost whom Christ told to “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), we too are to “do” from a heart that is “endued”.
Are you “endued”? How will you know? EGW gives us a most succinct way of determining this… in “Steps to Christ” no less. “By what means, then, shall we determine whose side we are on? Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things” (Steps to Christ pg.58)
If this is not the case, do we just wait? Do we wait until our motive is right? No. Because in the doing with this awareness of our inadequacy… but with a desire to follow Christ in our heart, we can come to that better motive. We tend to wait until our motive is right. But often, our motive will not be right until we follow. Until we (dare I say) obey. Obey with a desire to have our motive right. That kind of following will yield the desired fruit.
Satan dogs our path. He will tempt in all ways with all we are and all we do. We should always be cautious about our “doing”. For it can be a path leading to pride. But, if we daily connect more closely with Him who is love so that we, too, are moved with “love for others for whom Christ died” (Desire of Ages pg. 417), God will surely direct our paths. And our “doing” and obeying will lead us to recognize His voice more, understand more, love more, and follow more. God bids us remember who we were (sinners full of self to be sure), but to also remember who we are (saved by grace, saved from self, empowered to follow Him in love). Do not be afraid to “do something”. But always strive in all things to bring praise to God, not self. And if this is not your experience, RUN (don’t walk or stand still) … RUN to the Father and confess it all. He will surely answer the desire of your heart.
With brotherly love,
Jim