Steps to maturity – learn God’s will-faithfulness
Probably the most asked question I have gotten over the years..what is God’s will for my life
It seems like a difficult one until you realize
- God designed you for a purpose
- He placed in your heart a joy that comes when you are fulfilling your purpose
- He is constantly providing opportunities for you to fulfill your purpose
It would seem that God’s will is always right in front of us….but what is it?
It is the way God created you, so you can live a fulfilled life, show the love of God to others and change the world!
Knowing God’s will and living God’s will blesses you, others and the world at large and as a side benefit will keep you from trouble
Sound crazy? Speaking of crazy…
Dr. Karl Menninger, a world-famous psychiatrist, was answering questions after giving a lecture on mental health when one person asked, “What would you advise someone to do if he felt a nervous breakdown coming on?” Most people expected the doctor to say, “Consult a psychiatrist.” Instead he said, “Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone in need, and do something to help that person.” This psychiatrist knows that those who serve others have less mental and psychological problems. The best way to bring on a heart attack or a mental, emotional breakdown is to think about yourself all the time.
So how do we find God’s will…its easy
We start by being faithful to what is in our hands right now
Genesis 11:31,32
One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. 32 Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran.
Another story you may know is about David, he was faithful daily with caring for the family sheep
It may seems mundane, it may seem unexciting but God looks for faithfulness and that is one of the keys, from Able – Paul, God found faithfulness in them before he began to use them
What are you doing daily in your place of business, home, organizations you belong to, your school, and our church are you being faithful?
There are generally three types of people in any company, corporation, organization including the church
Leaders
Followers
Complainers
We saw this two weeks ago in moving forward not backward
You can be a follower and a leader at the same time, you lead a team, a group, some part of the organization but you still have a leader over you….you can be a leader and a follower in fact every leader should be a follower in order to grow to be a better leader…you will find the best CEO’s of companies have mentors or they are always reading from other great leaders…both of these the key is, faithfulness
Complainers on the other hand are neither leaders or followers….they generally think they are leaders or through their complaining are trying to lead but to be a leader or follower you must be faithful to the company, organization, church or corporation you are working in
This is really almost an Olympic event with Americans complaining is almost what we do best, just listen to the news or any talk show for any length of time… but not so with us…we are Christ-followers and he never complained!
165 times in scripture Paul mentions his description of a Christian life is that we are “in Christ” why because when Jesus confronted Saul he said why are you persecuting me…Saul didn’t even known Jesus but he was persecuting Christians who are in Christ so when we complain against a brother or sister in Christ we are doing it to Jesus (Matthew 25 “done it unto me”)
Look at the task you are called to right now being and employee, employer, Mom, Dad, attender of this church
Are you faithful to all of the tasks no matter how unexciting they may be
Being faithful is about trusting God that he has placed you in your business, organization, or church and that he has you there for a purpose….complainers miss out on God purpose and plan for them and the organization they are part of…so God generally will test people through the mundaneness of daily task and then will bless them as they pass.
As God did with Abraham simply following Terah being faithful at the task even though God had placed great leadership ability, an adventurous heart and the soul of a warrior within him
As God did with David, the great king, the heart of a powerful leader, worshiper, warrior yet tested him with the task of caring for the sheep
Complainers may get promoted, may end up in accidentally in leadership positions but they are never happy they still complain because it is not the organization, company or church that is the problem it is them, their brokenness, they heartache, their guilt, shame, feelings of inadequacy that God wants to heal and set them free but as long as they are complainers and not leaders or followers they will continue to suffer outside of the blessings of God because all leadership comes from God for us to learn
When we are faithful there isn’t anything we can’t do…we know and are the Father’s heart when we are faithful, we don’t fear anything knowing that God will be faithful to us and we know his heart and his will….God puts it this way
2 Chronicles 16:9a
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal (faithful) to Him…”
Help others to be faithful not faithless
When you hear someone gossiping, complaining, or whining call them on it, gently, find out what their brokenness is, the guilt they are carrying you may find yourself being able to lead them to Christ or if they are a Christian challenging them to maturity
Paul instructed Timothy 2 Timothy 2:2
“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
You see God’s very character is faithfulness and when we are faithful to Him we truly reflect Him.
It is only the faithful that God can trust his word, deeds, and anointing too.
Faithfulness is not a one time event, not a couple of time event, it is the consistent revealing of the fruit of the Spirit in your words, actions and deeds
You see faithful has at it’s root faith…if you are not faithful it is because you do not have faith
Yes the Lord works with and is always calling the unfaithful back to himself but you are not pushing on to fulfilling God’s will until God can find you faithful
You might be saying to yourself I’m not sure if I’m faithful or not
It is good to ask myself what it means to be faithful in practice. The way to a faithful life can start with very small things…
– keeping a promise
– paying a debt on time,
– giving an honest answer to a painful question.
Psalm 15:4b “who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;” (NIV)
It can mean…
– watching my words
– Do you exaggerate when telling a story?
– Are you a revealer or a concealer of secrets?
What about my motives? Is there an underlying selfish motive in the good I do for others?
Proverbs 11:13
A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy (faithful spirit NKJ) can keep a confidence.
In order to fulfill God’s will we must understand being faithful because it is most likely at the root of why we have not followed it until now. Once again we truly reflect Him when we are faithful
God is faithful in every possible meaning of the word. He is described as…James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
God is utterly..
– faithful to His Word,
– Faithful to His promises
– faithful to mankind, the chief joy of His creation.
He loves each person unconditionally with an eternal and unchanging love. He never changes there is no shifting in who he is or what He stands for…how about you?
Does everything you say and do reflect the Lord? Is the way you talk about your boss, people you work with, your family, brothers and sisters in Christ reflect His character? Does the way you treat others reflect the fruit of the Spirit?
Thinking of the world as a whole, if every person lived faithfully by his or her God-given conscience, that whisper in our hearts that tells us the difference between good and evil and prods us to choose rightly, how different the world would be! To follow our conscience is a fantastic beginning! But as Christians, God wants to lead us even further. He has promised us the Holy Spirit, the Helper who will guide us into all truth.
John 16:13
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;
Can you imagine allowing the Holy Spirit to guard you tongue and actions to cause you to always walk in the truth, to set you free to know every minute of every day what the Lord wants? This is how much God loves us
This is just a start. To be honest I didn’t think I would go this deeply into the “faithfulness” part but as I prayed I felt as if the Lord was telling me,
“So many miss out on my will because they are looking for the big things and they want the more responsibility and position and prestige but are not willing to be faithful with the small things so they miss out on my will and the joy I have for them”
Finding God’s will is first about knowing that God designed you and desires for you to do his will BUT
If we aren’t faithful with the little things even though he has a plan and purpose for us he won’t be able to trust us with the big BUT
If we are faithful with the little things we are making the first steps to doing His will
The little things can be a challenge
– keeping your word, pay debt on time, giving honest answers
– are you watching your words, do you exaggerate, what are your motive for sharing things with others
Luke 16:10,11
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
Yes, Jesus’ words are warning but I want you thinking today not about the warning but instead the possibilities…when we are faithful with the mundane things of life…God opens up his plans and purposes for us…God wants you to know His will He designed you to fulfill his will don’t allow your own flesh to get in the way and limit the amazing plan God has designed for you…be faithful and he will unfold his will to you because it is so easy and readily available
We will talk about the ways God’s will is revealed next week but these are the steps to maturity but they are also the steps to being everything you are called to be and to fulfill your amazing journey