Patience...waiting on God

 Yesterday our lesson in Sunday school was about David and the amount of time he had to wait before he became king of Isreal.  Davie was anointed by Samuel when he was about fifteen.  Then he was at odds with King Saul for about fifteen years before he was made king of the tribe of Judah.  It was another seven years before he became king of Israel.  We were impressed that during this time he waited on God to make him king rather than taking things into his own hands.  

My devotion this morning talked about Abraham.  He knew his descendents were to become a great nation but he didn't have any children. So instead of waiting on God's timing, he and Sarah took things into their own hands to bring about the promise.  This produced trouble for their family then and for generations to come. 

An example of this came to my mind.  When we moved to our current location almost twenty years ago there was an area on the road that leads to our ranch that was a mess.  The fences were bad, there was an old trash pile, and 'stuff' left from the days of old.  Gail and I wanted to get this cleaned up.  We were able to buy the property a few years back.  Then Missy and Austin built a house and pens there.  They recently refenced this property and it all looks terrific!  This took about twenty years but the wait was worth it.  Kids living close and a beautiful property.  

So.... all this to say don't get in a hurry.  Wait upon the Lord.  Stay faithful.  Don't take things into your own hands.  God is great and His timing is perfect! 

Some thoughts about work....

Wow! I am excited to write this blog today because of what I heard on the radio recently.

I was listening to Family Life and they were talking about our ‘work’. The hosts were using verses from Genesis where God gave directions to Adam and Eve when they were in the garden.

Genesis 1:28 - 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The broadcast said that God made us so that we could work. It is a blessing from Him. Could you imagine not needing to work? Just lounging around and everything is brought to us? Goodness, yesterday I had things caught up and had free time and didn’t know what to do with myself!!!!

Then the broadcast said that we seem to have this division between ‘work and living our everyday lives’ and then our ‘spiritual lives’. It said there should not be any division. We seem to think that if the ‘work’ is not spiritual then it is of no significance. But, according to the speakers, all work is spiritual because of God’s direction from Genesis. In ‘working’ we are subduing the world around us and thus fulfilling God’s directions.

Over the years as I have worked, I have always tried to do the work I was doing well. This is because of Col. 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” So in terms of working with efficiency and quickness and in terms of doing a good job, I try to do both as if I was working for our Lord, myself. I also try to do a good job so that Christ is glorified!

Another thought the speaker had on the radio dealt with the Great Commission. This is Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” The speaker said the ‘go’ should really say ‘as you are going’. So in essence, as we are going about each day doing our work, the will of our heavenly Father, we will be making disciples for Him.  Disciples will be made in the workplace, in our homes with our children and grandchildren, in our community organizations, and in every aspect of our lives.

Another thought of mine about work is that we should not be afraid to try something new in terms of work. You may not have the skills required for the job but you can learn. Then you can practice and get more proficient so that you can do the job well. There is an old saying that says ‘The only person who doesn’t make a mistake is the one that doesn’t do anything.’ I think there is a lot of truth in this. You may make mistakes as you try to do something new but you will learn and do better with time. It is better to try and make a mistake than to not try at all.