July 2010
Following the Signs on Our Journey
One of the hardest things for Kristi and me to do when we moved here, to the Silicon Valley, was to learn our way around. The great thing was there were plenty of direction signs to help us out. There were some that were confusing though. Take the I-280. When you are in downtown San Jose, the city of Campbell is south…but you must go north on the I-280 to get there. I can’t tell you how many times we got turned around before we learned that to go south you must first go north, at least on the I-280.
God is so good to us on our journey with Him; He always puts up signs for us to follow Him. We must first recognize the God signs, and then learn to read them correctly.
Moving forward in the plan and will of God requires knowing how to observe the signs. Whether we need to rebuild a marriage, a broken friendship, a bad financial situation, or any other wall in our lives that the enemy has destroyed; we must read carefully the signs along the way and know how to trust God enough to follow Him at every turn.
Read Nehemiah Chapter 2
First, God always gives the Go sign. In my experience often times when God tells us to go…fear sets in. Remember what Moses did when God told him to go to Pharaoh? He gave God excuses of why he couldn’t do it. Then there was Gideon. He made God prove it was really Him. I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that God has also told us to Go therefore and make disciples.
Nehemiah had prayed for God to tell him what to do for over 4 months. He went before the King and the King asked him what was wrong and why was he so sad. His reaction was a natural response and he was afraid. We are told he said a quick prayer and proceeded to tell the King.
I am reminded of a man who bought a new hunting dog and was eager to see how he would perform. He took the dog out one day hoping to track down big game. No sooner had they gotten into the woods than the animal picked up the trail of a bear. Excitedly the hunter followed close behind. Then suddenly the dog stopped, sniffed the ground, and headed in a different direction. He had caught the smell of a deer that had crossed the path of the bear. A few moments later he halted again. This time, captivated by the scent of a rabbit that had crossed the path of the deer. And so, on and on it went until finally the breathless hunter caught up with his dog only to find him barking triumphantly down the hole of a field mouse! Several of us have started out with the high resolve of keeping the Savior first in our lives. But it isn’t long before our attention is diverted to things of temporal importance. We need a renewed commitment that we will go at God’s command and that we will not be diverted by side issues.
Then there is the stop sign. Every road has stop signs. Every believer’s life will be confronted with some stop signs as well. It is important for the believer to avoid the stop signs which are not of God. Nehemiah was truly burdened for God’s name and God’s city. He desired to see the wall of the city rebuilt and restored. He prayed, wept and fasted for months. Then, one day, the opportunity came to do more than pray.
God was putting up the go sign in Nehemiah’s life; however, every time God says go you can be sure the devil will shout stop. When the New Testament church took the command of Christ seriously and went forth to share the Gospel, enemies rose up to arrest them, intimidate them, beat them, and even kill them.
We come now to the last and most important sign of all; it is the yield sign. When all is said and done, we must yield everything up to the Lord. We have to acknowledge that He, and He alone, can make us successful. Look at what Nehemiah 2:20 states, “Then answered I them, and said unto them, ‘The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.’” Nehemiah didn’t trust his own wisdom, his own leadership ability, his own resources, his own planning or anything else of his own.
Nehemiah had yielded everything to the God who had all the resources necessary to see the task through to completion.
I want to ask you a question today, is your life yielded totally to God? Are you in the center of His will? Someone will answer, “Pastor, I don’t know if I really know the will of God.” Let me relate a story to you:
Many years ago, a group of applicants were waiting in an office to be interviewed for a job. The job interview was for a telegraph operator, which was a rather prized position in that day. The men in the waiting room were chattering away. In the background the sound of the dots and dashes were coming over a loudspeaker. Suddenly one of the applicants stood up and rushed into the employer’s office. Soon he returned smiling. “I got it!” he exclaimed, “I got the job”. The other applicants sat stunned. One asked, “How did you get ahead of us?” The happy new employee said, “You might have been considered if you hadn’t been so busy talking that you didn’t hear the manager’s coded message. The dots and dashes over the loudspeaker carried this message: ‘The man I need must always be on the alert. The first one who interprets this and comes directly into my private office will be hired.”
Some of us don’t sense a real clear picture of God’s will because we aren’t listening. Just think about it…many Jews had returned to Jerusalem before Nehemiah got there, but none of them had done anything about the wall. Was it God’s will for the wall to be repaired? Surely it was! It just so happened that Nehemiah was listening and got the message.
We need to make our minds up today to Go at God’s command, to reject the Stop signs the devil puts in our path, to be cautious in our planning but to always Yield to God’s power and purpose in our lives.
Let me close with a story. Many years ago in the “horse and buggy” days, a man and his son were driving along a very narrow and dangerous stretch of road. The boy became extremely nervous, and in his fright grabbed one of the reins. As calmly as possible the father responded by offering him the other rein. “Oh, no,” he cried, “I don’t want them both! I could never manage that animal alone!” “Well, then,” he said gently, “you must make your choice. It’s either you or me. We can’t both drive the same horse at the same time!” The boy quickly surrendered full control of the carriage to his father.
Have you taken the reins from God? Would you like to give them back to the One who can handle the situations in your life? Come to Him right now! Turn everything over to Him.
Peace and Grace
Pastor Bruce