“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:14-18 ESV)
One of Satan’s biggest weapons against us is to instill fear within us, to attempt to get us to doubt God, and to fear the future, or to fear the results of our present circumstances. And when he makes people afraid then they will start grumbling and disputing and fighting and arguing with one another, for they will feel as though they must make it happen or it will not happen. But if God opens the door, no one can shut it. And if he shuts a door, no one can open it. So we must learn to trust the Lord in all things and not fear.
Now, this is not to say that we sit back and do nothing if the Lord is directing us to do something. But we shouldn’t take matters into our own hands, thinking that we have to help God out. But we need to learn to lean upon the Lord and on his strength and wisdom, and trust him with our circumstances, and not give way to fear. For no matter what our circumstances might be, no matter how big or how small the situation, if God is in it, he will see us through it, and his purpose will be accomplished through it.
And when we do that, it really takes a lot of pressure off of ourselves. And as long as we are following the leading of the Lord, and as long as we are doing what he has called us to do, then we can be at peace in knowing that he is going to work it all out for our good, according to his will and purpose for our lives. We just have to trust him with our circumstances. And we have to believe that our God is the God of impossible situations, and he can work miracles in our lives in ways which are unimaginable, too.
And how we respond to our circumstances says a lot about our character, and it can be a good witness or a bad witness for Jesus Christ and for his gospel, too. For as followers of Christ we are to be his witnesses, and we are to shine the light of Jesus and of his gospel to the world around us. And for us to be a good witness, we need to be walking in fellowship with Jesus Christ, listening to his voice, following his lead, and doing what he says to do, while trusting him fully with the results.
So, it is critical that we hold fast to the word of life, that we hold fast to the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, which are intended for us believers in Jesus Christ to follow. And when Satan tempts us to fear our circumstances, we must be reminded to not listen to Satan’s lies, but to listen to the voice of truth, the voice of God, the word of God written down for us in the Scriptures. For we serve a miracle working God who is the God of impossible situations who can move mountains to accomplish his will.
So, again, this is not saying that we sit back and do nothing and expect God to do it all. For he has things he wants us to do. He has called us to his purposes. And we who believe in him are now his possession, and he is our Lord (Owner-Master), and so we are here to serve him. And so he is going to say, “Go here. Go there. Do this. Do that.” And so we do it, but we still leave the results to him. For example, he called me to write down what he’s teaching me and to post it on the internet, but God then God sends it out.
I have absolutely no control over who gets these devotions, who reads them, or over how they respond to them. And if I get no feedback, and so I don’t know how these are being used, I have to be okay with that. For we never know all the many ways in which the Lord may be using us in other people’s lives. Our job is just to listen to him and to do what he says and then to leave the results to him. And we must keep learning to trust him with our circumstances and to not give way to fear.
VOICE OF TRUTH
By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman
II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth…
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