July 16, 2018
Each person should
remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 1Cor 7:20
Trust God to use you
IN your marriage, your work, and your town until He changes it.
Often people come to Christ and discover loneliness in the
early stages of their walk with Jesus.
Their spouse will not be a believer and the marriage becomes
strained. Others in the family are not
as excited about taking with them, and tension builds in family gatherings. Friends who once were tightknit become distant. Family members avoid them. It’s in these days that one of two reactions
tend to happen: either the believer
starts growing colder in their devotion to Christ, or they begin to think
starting over in a new situation would be better.
The scenario is not just true for newer believers, but for Christian
leaders and business-people as well. As
challenges and setbacks occur, the tendency is to believe a new location would
be better than sticking around the old one.
Many use these seasons of loneliness to start looking for new positions,
thinking that God has a better place for them.
Loneliness is a sign to change many things, but changing
where God has you is not one of them. God
left Moses, Joshua & Caleb in the desert 40 years before they moved
on. He had David on the run for years
before removing Saul from power. God
left Daniel in a pagan kingdom during the exile, and even sent Joseph &
Mary with Jesus to Egypt for several years before calling them back to
Israel. His principle is the same for us
– stay where God has you until He calls you away. You don’t know what God is doing with you in
your marriage, your family, your work environment or your neighborhood. And if you’re a leader in your church --- you
don’t know what God is doing with you there either! So stay put until God calls you away.
A word for ministers… applying for jobs to “seek God’s
calling” is often a manipulation. Be
careful you don’t try to force God’s hand or pursue a new ministry ahead of
God. He may have you where you are to
rebuild something, to stand against something, or even to grow you as a
leader. Being in the desert may be
EXACTLY the right place, even if it looks weak or disappointing compared to the
mega-church on the other side of town.
Stay where God calls you until He calls you away.
Trust God to be God – and work out His purposes through you
in your marriage, your work, or your situation.
He is very capable of doing that.
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