March 15-
When God gives you a vision of what He wants you to do, you will have to go against the flow of the world. Society wants to keep you in a box. Most people are married mentally to the status quo. They want what was, not what can be. They seek safety and simple answers. So, you need to give yourself permission to go a different way, to break new ground.
Paul said, ‘I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.’ It was his consuming passion and the central focus of his life. He got up every morning thinking about it and went to bed every night thinking about it. And at the end of his life, he could say, ‘I have finished the race…Finally, there is laid up for me the crown’ (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV). No one achieves greatness by becoming a generalist. Whether your vision is to build a great family, or a great church, or a great business, or a great ‘anything’, you must focus.
Author Harry A. Overstreet observed: ‘The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.’ Does every area of your life deserve focused thinking time? No. Be selective, not exhaustive in your thinking. What has God called you to do? What’s your role in it? What skill sets do you need to sharpen? What knowledge do you need to acquire? What relationships do you need to build? The first question Paul asked when God gave him his vision was, ‘What do You want me to do?’ (Acts 9:6 NKJV). And today that’s the question you need to ask God, too. Numbers 20-22, Mark 7:17-37
Steps to overcoming your worries
Job lost his wealth, his health, and his children. The book he wrote is a conversation between himself and God. At the beginning of it, Job says, ‘Hear now my argument’ (Job 13:6 NIV). He is asking, ‘Why has all this happened to me?’ At this point he is totally self-focused.
But by the middle of his book, Job has grown spiritually and now he takes a different approach. Instead of reasoning, he decides to stand on God’s Word: ‘But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread’ (Job 23:10-12 NIVUK).
By the last chapter in his book, Job has decided to trust God completely: ‘I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted…My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’ (Job 42:2, 5 NIV). Job has finally arrived at the place where he can say, ‘I trust God; there is no need to worry!’
After nine months of worrying, questioning, and reasoning, he decides he doesn’t need answers to all his questions, he only needs to know that God cares for him. And his story ends in these words: ‘The Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before’ (v. 10 NIV). There you have it; the steps to overcoming your worries! Luke 5:1-16, Psalms 29-30
Courtesy: UCB UK: https://www.ucb.co.uk/word-for-today/112229
MOHN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWInWmeDmvo
