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…