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“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ Luke 19:17
Have you ever caught yourself looking around and asking yourself ‘Is this all there is?”. You look at your abilities and compare them to the abilities of someone else. You measure your past against those whose past is ‘squeaky clean’ and stable. You see a couple walking hand in hand down the street and with your relationship was like that.
If we are honest we each have those moments where we wish we had more money, more time, better skills, a better relationship, a better body and a whole list of other things to make us more successful, better respected and more comfortable. These feelings can bring on depression, discouragement, anger, hate, envy and a whole bunch of other destructive and retraining emotions.
Jesus tells a story about three men who were given money by their master before he went away on a trip. When he returned, he went to see what each of them had done with the money given them. Two of the men had used the money for good things. They’d invested wisely, spent frugally and, in the end, made their master more money. The third person did nothing. He held tightly to what he had so that when the master returned he gave him everything he had been given, but not a penny more.
When the master returned he commends his servants for being faithful in the small things, the little things of life. They may have thought it was a huge responsibility, but he didn’t. In fact, the person who was given the least was afraid to do anything at all because he was afraid of failure. Fear keeps us from doing the little things that lead to success.
God gives us what we need to excel in life. You may have made some terrible mistakes in life. You may be suffering from consequences that will last you a life time, full of scars and wounds that are taking much longer to heal than you’d hoped. Don’t allow these things to keep you from investing your time in the little things that will enable God to use you. It wasn’t the amount of money the master gave his servants that was important, it was what each person did with it that counted.
For those of us that are Christ-followers, those little things that matter may be starting to read the Bible and pray on a daily basis. It may be spending more time with your kids or building that weak relationship.
Think of life as drama production. Usually you have one or two people who are major players. You have a cast of others who support the plot. You have people in the background making sure costumes are right, the set is in place and the sound and lights are in place. We normally think of the stars as being the most important, but how would the play be without supporting cast members or crew? Just as there are no unimportant roles to play in drama, there are no unimportant roles to play in life.
Use what you have to glorify God alone. Do the little things you know you need to do to grow stronger in Him and into a closer relationship with Him. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by what others are doing or others have. Play your part to the best of your ability and let God do the rest.
PRAYER: Father God I thank you for me. Thank you that you have given me all that I need to excel in life. Forgive me for letting my past cripple me. Empower me to enjoy who I am and where I am without comparing myself to others. Give me the grace I need to be the person you want me to be. In your name I pray. Amen.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6
Have you ever been in a situation where you were waiting anxiously for something to happen? Perhaps you were waiting for God to answer a prayer you had for a loved one who was sick? Waiting for the doctor’s report. Waiting for word on a loved one in the military. Waiting for word from the bank about a loan, or if you were going to keep you house. Waiting for your employer to decide who keeps their job and who becomes unemployed. Waiting for the judge to decide the sentence.
Waiting. It can be agonizing. Waiting can become so much a part of you that controls your thoughts, your sleep, your eating habits, your moods. Waiting can affect your relationships, your outlook on life, and your opinion of God, yourself or others.
I remember when I was going through a terribly stressful time in my life. Everything I had counted on was gone. I was at the mercy of a legal system I didn’t trust. I had no money, no job and, perhaps, no future.
Sleep was fitful at best. I’d go to bed very, very late (or should I say early in the morning) and wake up from a fitful sleep just a few hours later. The lack of sleep caused fatigue which made the problems seem worse. My physical, emotional and spiritual health was failing.
The one thing I looked forward to every morning was seeing the sunrise. Light seemed to ease the fear and the pain. Being able to see what was around me gave me comfort in the midst of hopelessness. I hated the darkness of night.
I would imagine that is the word picture the Psalmist wants us to have in Psalm 130 when he likens waiting to the work of the night watchman. When the Bible repeats a phrase or a word it does so for effect, to show importance. Darkness was scary. Darkness was dangerous.
Today we have security lights and motion detectors. In his day there were torches and, sometimes moonlight. Daylight brought the assurance that you made it through the night without enemy attack. In the daylight you could see the enemy approach and arm yourselves. In the dark you were really at your enemy’s mercy.
That’s often how we feel when we are waiting expectantly, hopefully, earnestly for God to make something happen in our lives. The foundation on which we wait has to be trust. Trust in God’s character. Trust in His word. Trust in His promises. We do what we can to resolve some problems, but there are some where we just trust God for His word.
Your Heavenly Father loves you. He’s promised to take care of you. Everything He brings your way, the good and the bad, is given you in order to draw you closer to Him and trust His promises. Hard as it is to wait, waiting is easier when we really learn to rely on God to see us through the darkness and into the dawn.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess that I’m a lousy wait-er. I want answers and I want them now. I get impatient and don’t understand why you won’t answer me. Right now I’m in a very dark place in my life. I have issues with my relationships, my finances, my health, my faith. I need to see some light. Empower me by your Spirit to endure the darkness and draw close to you. Keep me safe until the dawn. In Jesus name, Amen.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14
Each of us has dreams growing up. We dream of being famous. We dream of having fancy clothes, big homes and vacation homes and being able to travel. Then life hits us and for the vast majority of us we look back and see that little, if anything, went as planned.
Gravity attacks our body with vengeance. Old age reminds us of our mortality. We fall victim to health issues, financial issues or relational issues. We suffer from own poor choices or the abuse of others. Our children struggle. A car accident, a fall, an illness can change things in an instant and all the dreaming and planning is for nothing.
The only thing we can be certain of in life is uncertainty. Even King Solomon, with all his wealth and power, bemoaned the fact that the things in life are empty. Still we plan all these things about tomorrow without really knowing where our next breath will come from. No matter how wise we are and no matter how much we plan for the future, reality is we just can’t see tomorrow.
That’s the bad news. Now for the good news. We have a Heavenly Father who not only sees tomorrow. He created it. Tomorrow may not hold what you’d hoped for or expected, but it is EXACTLY what He expected. There are no surprises with God.
Not only has He been to tomorrow and back, He wants you to succeed. While the consequences of poor choices may have sent you on a detour, He can always bring you back to the main road. Happiness and contentment in life isn’t from the things we hold in our hands, but from the things we hold in our heart.
James doesn’t tell us not to plan. Planning is vitally important. The old adage “If you fail to plan you plan to fail’ isn’t in the Bible but its very true. What James is telling us as Christ-followers is that we need always to include God in those plans and leave room for his working. Our lives are like vapors, like the early morning fog. Here now, gone later. All the material things we’ve done will soon pass. But the lives we change will continue on.
The key to success in live isn’t planning and education or relying on the advice of other people. Success comes by seeking God’s direction for you. Education and the wisdom of those who’ve gone before you is important, but only when combined with seeking God for direction.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I look behind me and see so many mistakes I’ve made, and I suffer the consequences of. I fear what lies ahead of me with health, finances and relationships. I thank you that while my life here is short, my life with you will last for eternity. Help me to learn to include you in all my dreams so that I can store my riches with you for eternity. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 