Month: June 2013

“Wait on God!”

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“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint,” Isaiah 40:31

I must admit that patience is not a top priority on our list of must-do priorities.  Oh, you have a list and so do I, whether it’s actually written down somewhere or mentally stored in your consciousness where you are checking it off as you go through the day.  These lists are designed for us to do as much as humanly possible in one day.  They are supposed to bring order to the chaotic American schedule.  Well . . . how’s it going for you today?  That’s what I thought.  Either that list has become so astronomically large you can’t even begin to scratch the surface.  Or, your day has become so tight to adhere to the regulations of your list that there is no room to breathe or experience any joy, zapping the strength right out of you.

Now, there are some who have mastered the list and still manage to have a life.  But, they are few and far between.  For us average folk the list has become a foe.  If we don’t get everything done on it, it tends to point out our deficiencies making us feel that we will never get on top of it all.  Or, if we do complete it, we are to the point of exhaustion: physically, mentally and spiritually.

Most of us do need to tone up in the area of good organizational methods, but the drive that leads us to put so much on our plate at one time has become unrealistic.  This culture mainly thrives here in America where our nation has become success-obsessed.  This cause can be mainly contributed to our impatience.  Not waiting for things to naturally come and fall into place through a good, hard, regular work ethic.  Instead, we try to push and force success in an unnatural, over-obsessed way.

Not only does this ring true in secular society but also for us who are in Christ.  In our haste to see things happen, to see things move we try to force the hand of God.  And, when He is not moving according to our supposed schedule, the list comes out and the push to get things going unnaturally propels us to take matters into our own hands.  Though patience is a fruit of the Spirit it is a fruit that most of us have yet to develop.  I understand how hard it is to wait for anything.  But, sometimes it’s as if God is saying to us, “I’ve got this.”  For us, there is a humble submission of our will so that the promise can be completed.

Through chapter forty of the book of Isaiah God is stating His case before us.  He is listing all the reasons one can trust Him with whatever you are going through.  He is the preparer and fulfiller of our soul’s salvation (VSS. 3-5).  It is His Word that is sure and will “stand for ever,” (VSS. 6-8).  He is your God and rules in power and with Him, He is bringing a reward (VSS. 9-10).  He is our provider and has promised to care for us (vs. 11).  He has shown forth His creative power (vs. 12).  He is omniscient, possessing unlimited knowledge (VSS. 13-14).  Everything else is insufficient to handle the task (VSS. 15-17).  The works of men are useless (VSS. 19-20) in comparison to the awesome majesty of God (VSS. 21-23).  “To whom then will you like me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One,” (vs. 25).  “He is strong in power” (vs. 26) and “fainteth not, neither is weary,” (vs. 28).  He is screaming out, “I am your Help!” (vs. 29).  So the admonishment to “wait” is because He’s got this!  He can handle it!  There is no greater power – no greater resource outside of him!  So, wait!

Waiting is not always easy.  Not by a long shot.  But, the fruit it produces can really turn out to be a beautiful thing, a beautiful promise fulfilled, and a beautiful end to the story.  The lists prioritizing our lives will go on but we don’t have to force our way to success.  Life is burdensome enough without adding all the extra stresses to it.  “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God,” (Isaiah 40:1).  Today, I will wait on God.  I don’t have to force anything.  In all the prosperity messages coming across the pulpit sometimes we have to remind people, and ourselves, to just wait.  It’s not worth it any other way.

What Would It Have Been Like? – “To Be the Philippian Jailer”

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We may not know the words of their melody, but we can be assured the praises they were singing before the Lord was spiritually moving.

That’s one of the dramatic things about this night.  After being beaten with rods and receiving many stripes these songs of praises could not be silenced. Some of it fell on deaf ears yet, some were listening.  If it were just Paul and Silas, then they could have quietly worshipped and kept it to themselves.  But, they were not alone in this prison, on this night.  Other inmates needed to believe that there is still a reason to rejoice in the midst of these darkest times.

Not everyone was attentive.  The melodious tune was not picked up by all as a listening pleasure.  The jailer, who earlier was given the charge to keep the prisoners locked up securely (Acts 16:23), was fast asleep.  So deep was his slumber it took the earth to begin to quake to rouse him from his midnight dreams.

Once awakened, the dreams dissipated and the reality of all that appears to have transpired sets in.  The prison doors are not only unlocked, but they are fully opened giving a free course of exit to any who wished to leave.  After all, it is a prison and who would rightly want to stay beholden by chains.

The jailer knew the vehement attitude the multitudes had against the two who were bound in the inner prison.  The charge to contain them at all costs was serious.  So serious, the jailer thought, “Since I have fallen asleep on my duty and have given the opportunity of freedom to them that were bound, I must now seal my failure with my own death.  For surely, when the magistrates come and find out my fault, I shall pay with my life anyway.”

Determined not to let this go any further, the jailer drew his sword to perform the unthinkable.  When out of the dark, a voice arose above his desperation and called out, pleading with him to spare his own life.

What would it have been like?  What would it have been like to walk in the Philippian jailer’s shoes on that night?  One moment, he is captured by failure and facing death to sighing audibly a cry of relief at the voice of deliverance.

The law was the law and had he not heard that calling voice, he would surely be dead by now.

Unbelief demands evidence.  Grabbing the closest light, he runs back into the depths of the prison walls and comes face to face with the convicted.  “But, what’s this?  Why didn’t they flee?  The shackles are loosed; the doors are opened, and yet, they remain?”  He thought, “Why?”

The jailer found out that though these men were convicted and sentenced by law, they carried a deeper conviction in their souls.  Beaten, yet they sit.  “Surely, this can’t be possible?” his mind racing, trying to grasp everything at once and take it all in.

Then, as if a new page was turned in a book, a new chapter began in his life.  “Whatever faith and conviction these men have is superior to that which we have learned under Roman rule.”

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

What would it have been like to be the Philippian jailer, you ask?  Though we are not guards during the ancient rule, any of us can associate with the lost state of the jailer on that night.  He was condemned physically because of his failure.  He was condemned spiritually because, as David said, “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me,” (Psalm 51:5).  The reality for the need of this salvation these men possessed pressed on the jailer as it did on us.

At one point or another, we have all had to run to the proverbial “altar” seeking, “What must I do to be saved?” as the jailer did.  Therefore, though much time has passed between him and us, the same cry of the heart gets the attention of the same God.

How many times had he kept guard of the convicted?  How many times had he led the bound to their deaths?  We don’t know.  But, we do know that it only took one time for him to come face to face with his own mortality to realize there has to be a change in his life.

“And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.  And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway,” (Acts 16:32-33).  The humbleness of all that happened in those few short hours promoted an attitude of service and repentance.  He was ready to be cleansed and made whole from the inside out.  “Who knows what tomorrow would bring, but tonight, I have to get right with God,” he must have thought as he contemplated it all.  And, the Bible tells us that he was baptized!

You ask, what would it have been like?  My response, “Don’t you know already?”  To be surrounded by death every day, and as quickly as one comes up out of the water, they have crossed the threshold into the newness of life.

That’s the epitome of salvation for the jailer and for us.  “Believing in God,” (Acts 16:34), and have our whole lives turned around.  The jailer may have been the guard on duty that night, but he was the one set free!  For that’s what salvation does for all that come to Him.

What would it have been like?  I think we already know.  The circumstances may be different but the salvation is the same.

In the end, it all worked out.  The jailer may have wondered what tomorrow would bring.  After all, he wouldn’t feel right about locking these men back up, would he?  At the same time, their freedom still meant his death.  The Bible tells us, “And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go,” (Acts 16:35).

Could it be that God allowed Paul and Silas to go through all of that to save one soul, one household?  Using pure speculation here, I’d say, “Could be!”  To the reader it would appear so for the Bible doesn’t talk about anyone else making a life-changing conversion on that dramatic night.

The jailer may have sighed with relief when hearing the voice call out in the night, but now he really experiences what it feels like to be free.  God spared his life physically (again) and spiritually (forever).

The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened after the jailer received new life.  Does he stay on working as a guard?  Did he give it all up to spread his testimony of what God had done in his life?  We don’t know.  But, what we do know is that like us, his life was never the same again.

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