How Does God Work?

I have always heard that God works in mysterious ways, but according to some authors they have figure out this method, or formula. It is like so many books I see on prayer, The Prayers God Will Answer, The Life God Rewards, etc... I think God works differently with certain people. While He may bless someone financially, another He may not because He knows it might hinder their faith in Him. He may deepen our faith by giving something to one person, but to another He may keep them in need, because the need may help them stay close to Him. I don't think there is a formula, do A, then B and get C. If there was then I think we would end up using God to get what we want, we as human beings are selfish that way, everyone to an extent. Jesus acted differently with those whom He came in contact with, He knows the heart of us all, and knows what will help us grow in His image. I think it takes more faith to trust Him in this way, then a formula. I know He has acted differently in my life, then in the life of those around me. It is not that one of us is doing it right and the other isn't. But it is because we are differently made, different personality types, different motives, and different gifts. So God acts differently with each one of us. He doesn't have a book of formulas He works out of; I think if He did then God would be pretty bored doing the same exact thing in everyone’s life. But He isn't bored or boring, the life lived out in formulas doesn't seem to be very trusting, I think we have to trust Him when we don't see what He is doing, or know how He is going to do it in our situations. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. Not, “Now faith is the assurance of formula, the conviction that God does everything the same.” Hebrews starts out the accounts of people in chapter 11, By faith... By faith... By Faith... Not By Formula... So we need to have Faith not a Formula

Thankful?

Dante Gabriel Rossetti said, “That the worst moment of the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.” Some would say that is a shame, what is worse is the believer who has someone to thank but doesn’t. The atheist is living out his or her faith, while those who call themselves Christian who don’t thank God are not living out theirs.

I think when it comes to being thankful we in an American society have forgotten or have taken it for granted. It’s easy isn’t it? I mean think about the things we take for granted each and every day. For example, having electricity in our homes, each night when we come home and flip on the light switch we don’t ponder and give thanks for have this luxury. We just expect it in our lives. But when the lights go out, for a few hours or even days, what do we do. We sit in the dark, or maybe we have a few candles lit. No television, radio, computers, or the internet. After a long time without these things we are grateful when the electricity comes back on. Why is it that we usually have to lose something before we are grateful to have it in our lives? From family and friends, a place to live, a car to drive etc. It seems to be a lesson we have to learn over and over again. I think it is the human condition to take what we have for granted, or just to expect it in our lives. I mean if it wasn’t, then why do we need a holiday each year to remind us to be thankful.

When you look at the Old Testament God instituted many festivals to remind the people to be thankful to Him. I do wonder if we who live in an affluent society have a harder time with being thankful then others. I posed this question to a group of people the other day, and one lady said she knew a woman who went on a mission trip to Africa. She noticed that the people in the village were very poor, had very little in their lives to be thankful for, well at least in our eyes. But the people were more grateful for what they had then most America’s who have plenty. Does our affluence blind us to being grateful for what we have? Do we tend to think about what we don’t have, or what is missing, instead of what we do posses?

Think back to the quote by Rossetti, “That the worst moment of the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.” At least the atheist is living out what he says he believes, the question for us is are we? Do we look around at what we have and see it as something we deserve? Or think we have gained it by our own wisdom and strength? Or don’t think about our blessings at all, but just go through life looking for the next thing. In an age of instant gratification have we become discontented, impatient, and prideful? Or are we being content in all things, good or bad, plenty or in need? Are we more like the atheist when it comes to being thankful?

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
   nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
   and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
   and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

-Habakkuk 3:17-18

Who Controls the Mind?

Who controls the mind? Most would say the individual. In theory this would be considered correct. When we look at this question biblically we would assert that God does own the mind. The mind as well as the body is on loan, as a gift and we are stewards. This brings us to our discussion. If God owns the mind and we have been entrusted with it as being stewards then we are responsible for what we feed the mind. The question we need to ponder is, “Who is in control, who is its master?” Is it the individual, or is it the mind? The reason I ask, what some would say is a strange question is because when we have a thought, positive or negative, do we just allow thoughts to come in uncontrolled? Do we allow the mind to do what it pleases with these thoughts? If the mind is its own master, then yes, we give it full reign to do what it pleases with its thoughts. If not, then we have to control what goes in and what comes out. We have to regulate the activity of the mind. It goes even deeper than that, we have to ask the same question in regards to our emotions. Who is the master? Who is the guardian, who regulates the activity of the mind and emotions?

This is a spiritual fight. Satan works to bring our minds under his influence. He desires to keep us thinking about our fears. He also does his best to fill our minds with what the world has to offer. He looks to keep our minds and emotions focused away from God. And if we are thinking about God, it needs to be a distorted view of Him.

When we think about the question, “Who owns the mind?”, it may seem ridiculous. We may say we do. We may say we regulate our thoughts. Take a minute to see if you really do control the mind! When temptation assaults you, do you take hold of the thought and remove it, or does the thought take hold of you? When there is something you desire, and this desire isn’t always on evil one, what do you do? Do you focus on the future, moving ahead of reality? Do you get caught up in the possibilities and allow your emotions to be stirred up? Do you ever find yourself being obsessed with the thought, or fear that you can’t seem to let go of? What about something you hope will happen. Do you ever become focused on the hope, which you then race ahead and become disappointed with the real outcome? If any of these questions are true for you, then you may not have the mind in control.  I think that is true for most of us. A single friend of mine would have this problem when he is interested in a lady. His mind would race ahead of reality. In doing so when life didn’t turn out to be like his script that he had written, he would become discouraged and disappointed. Is there an area in your thought life that you write a script out, in hopes it will happen. Is there a fear you have that the mind plays over and over which keeps you focused on, which distracts you from God? If the answer is yes, then you must learn how to control the mind.

The world has many remedies in how to take control, from Eastern meditation to finding strength from within to conquer the thought life. Eastern meditation looks to empty the mind of all its thoughts to find emptiness, to focus on the abyss and become one with the universal consciousness. For the Christian this is dangerous business. Scripture does not call us to a state of emptiness, or to become one with an unknown consciousness. This type of meditation is dangerous because it opens the mind to the spiritual world. This spirituality is not one of God, but a masquerade of Satan. Eastern meditation is an open door to allow Satan to infiltrate our thoughts in the pursuit of our own inner peace. Just because something helps us, or brings relief, doesn’t always come from God. While premarital sex may relieve loneliness, it is forbidden in Scripture. The same is true for Eastern practices in search of peace. When God’s Word is used the term meditation, it is not one connected with emptiness, but fullness. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8) “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” (Psalm 119:15) I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. (Psalm 119:48) “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.  (Psalm 104:34)

God wants us to fill our minds with His Word to bring healing. Meditation is not to bring us to emptiness. When God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form or void, and the darkness was over the face of the deep. To bring His creation out of this void and darkness God said, “Let there be light.” He does the same for us to bring us out of our darkness by speaking through the Scriptures, His Word. He speaks to us, His creation, for the same reason, to fill the void with His presence. Jesus, when the disciples were in the midst of a storm on the sea of Galilee did the same. He spoke to the creation and said, “Peace be Still” His Word brought about peace. Not the emptiness of the mind, but fullness in Christ.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. [2 Corinthians 10:4-5]

However...

Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. [2 Kings 10:28-29]

I have been reading the books of 1 & 2 Kings, and there seems to be a theme, not a good theme but nevertheless a theme. When a good king came to power he would restore the nation back to God. He would kill the prophets who worshiped idols, and restore the worship in the temple to God. But then there was a however…

Now let’s turn to today, is there a however in your life? If a book was written about the lives of Christians in our day, and your name was in it, what would it say? Fill in the blank. And (your name) served God continually; attended church, read their bible, served others, and evangelized to the lost, however… Isn’t that true about those who have fallen from grace, they had a however plaguing them. We see it in the paper about the minister whose secret life comes to light. And it can be true about us also, we may not make the paper but the however does affect us, and those who watch us closely.

When we first became a Christian, we had zeal to remove whatever came between us and God. We looked to be faithful to Him in all areas, but there was this one place that sin kept to itself. An area we struggled with, whether it was large or small, it is still a struggle. Year after year the struggles came and went as it pleased, never truly being defeated. After a time we just gave up trying, the fight had been too long and we became weary. It is no longer a struggle because we have given in to it, and now it is a part of our life. It may not be seen by others, and it may not affect us like it did at one time, but it is still a however.

The however in our life seem to hang around don’t they? They slowly look to destroy the work of God in our lives. Maybe not all at once, but they work slowly, steadily, consistently. Like yeast, they work their way through the dough of our Christian walk, always eating away at our joy and our closeness with God.

These are the areas in which God longs to work; He doesn’t look to only work in areas we are faithful in, He looks to put His hand to the plow on the fields of our “however.” Those areas we seen to fail at continually, these are the places the Holy Spirit does His best work. But there is a catch. And the catch is, are we willing to allow Him to do His work? I think that is why we have areas like this in our lives. I know it is true for me; I am not pointing the finger at you and saying, “see what is wrong with your walk.” I am pointing the finger at myself and seeing my own however. And how I have tried in my own strength to overcome them, but it hasn’t worked.

The question for both of us is, are we going to allow God to do His work in us, or are we going to keep trying it in our strength, ways that seem to only bring disappointment. Do you want your life story to end with the word however…? Or will it end with a phrase beginning with “and.” What I mean is this; I use to work with a boss who would always have a “but.” “You did a good job with this, but…” “Your work is good, but…” No matter how much work you put into a project there was always room for a “but…” instead of an “and.” “I really liked what you did today, and I appreciate the hard work.

Unlike my former supervisor, God doesn’t always use the word but… He wants to use the word and…  However, the choice is yours in how the story ends. Which one will you choose, the “however,” or the “and.”

So fill in the blank.

And (your name) served God continually; attended church, read their bible, served others, and evangelized to the lost, however…

And (your name) served God continually; attended church, read their bible, served others, and evangelized to the lost, and…

The Persistent Widow

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

[Luke 18:1-8]

Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller's orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting in the home. Muller took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do." In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. Muller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it.

George Mueller was known for his powerful prayer. In the course of his ministry to the orphans of England, he never asked for financial assistance from men - only God... and he constantly received what was needed.

Reasons We’re Not Persistent:

Are you persistent in prayer? If so, continue, but if you’re not, then let’s look at a few reason why we don’t continue in the disciple of prayer.

#1 - Unbelief

I think there are many reasons some of us are not persistent. For some of us, it is unbelief, we don’t believe God really cares about our needs; our unbelief is based on the idea that God doesn’t have our best interest at hand.

#2 - Fear

Maybe it is fear, a fear of growing closer to God, a reason for this can be we have sin in our life and we live with the fear of judgment. Another reason for fear is we not sure what God would ask of us if we drew near to Him. Or maybe it is we are afraid how He will answer our prayer, maybe He will cause us to go through something we aren’t willing to do. Just like any relationship we have, we wonder what the cost will be, what is required of me if I allow God close.

#3 – Spiritual Warfare

Some of us are in a spiritual fight; Satan can use many things to keep us from growing closer to God. He uses fear at times, but for most of us he uses distractions. Problems, dilemmas, and things we enjoy keeping our focus on anything but God

#4 - Discouragement

I think one of the most identifiable reasons is discouragement. Discouragement brings about a lack of hope, a lack of faith. We may have asked God for help in the past but we didn’t see any answer to our prayer, so we become discouraged and gave up on Him. Now we may look good on the outside, we come to church, we do all the right Christian things, but inside we are distant from Him and don’t really trust Him, discouragement destroys any relationship, especially with God.

#4 - Skeptical

Maybe you’re skeptical; you don’t really believe He wants to help. You say to yourself and to others, “He has more important things to concern Himself with.”

#5 - Anger

On the other hand maybe you’re mad at Him, because life hasn’t turned out like you wanted it to. So you turn your anger and bitterness towards God. You’ll show Him, you will just keep your distance, somehow thinking that you will get what you want by punishing Him with your coldness. Dave Harvey in his book Rescuing Ambition says, “Sometimes when God delays our ambitions, we try to and I know this is crazy – punish Him by pulling our dreams off the table. “God, you don’t deliver, so I’m not trusting my hopes and dreams to you. So there!” Have you pulled your dreams off the table, and trusted your hopes and dreams to someone or something else? Is so, you might be guilty of a heavenly temper tam tram.

#6 - Pride

The last reason I think we are not persistent is because we are prideful. We think we need to pull up our own bootstraps to get things done. Going to God because we are in need, seems weak to us. We think God wants us to figure things out on our own, and we would rather do that, than admit we need Him. Pride stands in our way, pride tells us to be self-sufficient, and depending on others is a sign of neediness. So we don’t persistent in prayer.

If you aren’t persistent in your prayer life, then which one of these do you tend to fall into?  Which one is keeping you from a closer walk with God?

The Widow and the Judge:

So let’s look at the two players in the parable. First we have the unrighteous judge. In the Old Testament, Moses calls the judges into account, Deuteronomy 1:16-17a says, “And I charged your judges at that time, 'Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's.”

Leviticus 19:15 says, "You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”

The judges in Israel were held to a high standard, to bring about justice to those who were in need. William Barclay in his commentary on Luke points out that the judge in Jesus' parable was not Jewish. Disputes between Jews were usually settled by 3 elders - one chosen by the plaintiff, one by the defendant and one independently appointed. The judge in the parable was probably a paid magistrate appointed by Herod or the Romans. Such men were notoriously corrupt. To get a case settled you either needed influence or the money to pay a bribe. A Roman proverb says, “A corrupt judge does not carefully search for truth.”

This judge was unrighteous in his execution of the law, he didn’t bother with the widow’s problem, because he was only concerned about himself. He turned his eyes from a careful searching for the truth.

Now let’s turn our attention to the widow. The word widow in Latin means deprived, void and emptied. When Naomi lost her husband and two sons, in the book of Ruth, she said, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" Ruth 1:20-21

In our day we can’t comprehend the plight of the widows in the time of Jesus. Today with life insurance and other safeguards, the widow’s life is still very difficult, but in comparison, isn’t as bad as it was back then. Losing a husband is a tragedy, but to lose your livelihood and everything you need to survive is even more tragic. In those days marriage gave protection to a woman, on the other hand a widow had no one to protect them. They were poor and had no way of gainful employment. It was left to the synagogues and the people of Israel to provide for them.  John Macarthur states, the synagogues would have a collection group that would go out every Friday morning and they would circle the city and collect goods and money from the various people, bringing it back on Friday afternoon, distributing it out to the widows before Friday night sundown which began the Sabbath. And that's how they ministered the small amount that they did minister to the poor widows. But what we learn from the passage is the poverty of a widow and something of a widow's dependency on God. The scribes and the Pharisees and the leaders of Israel devoured widows' houses. In other words, they took advantage of desolate women. They stole from the poor, if you will. And so here is a woman who somehow has been defrauded. Maybe she was defrauded by...or could have been defrauded by religious leaders through some false claim to her goods on their behalf…. The woman was all alone. She had no friends or family to help her get justice. The widow fought on single-handedly with no allies, no supporters, no-one to give her moral support.” The widow’s life was extremely hard, she had no one on her side except God. Death of a husband brought about a death of more than a spouse, but a death from a life with the community. She was all alone. She was deprived, void and emptied, her new name was Mara, for ”I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.”

What We Can Learn:

The widow went to the judge day after day, looking for justice. She used her influence on the judge’s indifference. She was intentional, she was persistent, and she believed she would eventually get justice. She had hope, she didn’t give up when her adversaries hounded her, and the judge did nothing. It is the only time I can think that nagging actually worked.

What can we learn in our times of unanswered prayer? Unanswered prayer can teach us to be patient; it can be a time to deepen our relationship with God. It can transform us from our will, to God’s will. It matures us if we don’t give up. Contrast that with what we might learn if all our prayers were answered in our time. We would become impatient, demanding, and immature in faith and we most likely would have a shallow relationship with God. God desires us to be persistent with Him; He looks for a people who continually come to Him. George Muller said this about unanswered prayer. He said “I give the Almighty no rest.” When it comes to pray, do you give the Almighty no rest? Or does He rarely hear from you?

I Give God No Rest:

When it came down to the widow, the judge said this about her. “Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.

The judges words “beat me down,” actually means to “beat one black and blue.”  Have you ever been around someone who, with the continually coming around, beat you down?

Jesus said this about being persistent in prayer in Luke 11:5-11, “And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

The judge in this parable didn’t give the widow justice because it was the right thing to do, or because he had a change of heart, he did it because of her persistent.

Does God Answer Our Prayers Speedily?

Luke 18:6-8a

And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.

Jesus calls us to listen to what the unrighteous judge says, we are to learn from a man who is a fool. Sometimes we can learn from the mistakes of others, we can learn from the foolish actions of someone else. And Jesus is calling us to learn from a judge who is unjust.

What about you, do you really believe what Jesus says about God in this verse. Do we truly think that God will answer you speedily? 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Our definition and God’s definition of speed are very different. We think because God isn’t answering our prayers on our timetable, it is because He isn’t concerned with our needs. But this isn’t true, He is waiting, His timing is perfect, just not perfectly in line with ours.

Will He Find Faith?

Luke 18:8 states,   “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Nevertheless would indicate something missing in our faith, He gives us forgiveness of sin, and freedom from sin, and mercy which he provides for those who believe in Him. Nevertheless, will Jesus find faith when He returns?

But what kind of faith, is it saving faith, or another type of faith. I think He is talking about faith in God’s goodness and mercy. Faith that God will provide, that God will answer the prayers of His people. Think back to the reasons I stated earlier about why we aren’t persistent in prayer. If Jesus returned today, what kind of faith in God’s goodness and answering prayer would he find in you? Would He find you believingly, expecting, and longing for His power and mercy in your life? Or would He find someone who doubts that God cares, that doubts God will provide in a time of need. Will He find a person who looks to themselves for strength, instead of relying upon God?

"Prayer is the pulse of life; by it the doctor can tell what is the condition of the heart. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for the ordinary Christian or minister that the life of God in the soul is in deadly sickness and weakness."  - Andrew Murray