How easily we can be distracted from our focus on the Lord in our busy lives. To give the Lord Jesus preeminence is a deliberate choice I have to make in order for it to become a life-style. Jesus always gave His Father that position because He had surrendered His own will and desires in exchange for His Father’s.
Never allow reason first place before God. If I have set aside a certain window of time in my day to seek the Lord and commune with Him, is it really necessary to answer an incoming telephone call? Distraction is a subtle, yet powerful, weapon of Satan. Reason may tell us that the phone call may be important. In that moment of choice I can give the Lord preeminence and attend to the missed call later. What can be more important than communing with the Lord? God is in control of my circumstances and is pleased when I learn to honour and reverence Him.
Life is full of challenges and distractions. When danger strikes, in our humanity we react. Reason kicks in but we can learn to quickly surrender that to the Lord and invite Him in to any situation. As we bow and refuse to entertain reason, the Lord Jesus will take control of the circumstances and make provision for Romans 8:28 to become reality in our lives: All things work together for good to those that love God…….”.
Life is full of choices and all choice has consequence – right choices for good and wrong choices with obvious results. I can ask the Lord to help me make right choices in life and fix that choice. Unless He fixes it I can retract and waver. James 1:6-8 “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For do not let that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
“But let him ask in faith…”, so faith is the key for “…..for whatsoever is not of faith is sin”. (Romans 14:23) Hebrews 11:6 declares, “Without faith it is impossible to please God”. If our faith is running low, Jesus has an abundant supply of all we need. He declares in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asks receives, he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened”.
So often we fight and complain about adverse situations instead of inviting the Lord to take pre-eminence over them. We fail to see what our Heavenly Father has planned for us in those circumstances. The apostle Paul recognised that in all our negative experiences, God is seeking to enlarge us in His Son, that the resurrection life of Christ may be seen in bigger measure. Our daily dying to self produces another measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in us – God’s divine purpose. Don’t kick against your circumstances, invite God in and enjoy the presence of Jesus there!……yes!…..in the midst of it all. Praise God IN your circumstances, (not FOR them).
The psalmist declared, “Before I was afflicted I went astray…….it is good for me that I have been afflicted , that I might learn your statutes”, Psalm 119:67 & 71. “Hear me when I call, O God……you have enlarged me when I was in distress”, Psalm 4:1
2 Corinthians 6 In this chapter Paul addresses the Corinthian church, encouraging them to be enlarged in their adverse circumstances instead of being overwhelmed or complaining. These are the opportunities where we can grow and mature in Christ.
In nature, if the mother eagle never pushed the baby eaglets out of the nest at the appointed time, they would never learn to spread their wings and fly. When we are divinely pushed out of our comfort zones, we, too, have the opportunity to learn to “walk with Jesus and not faint, to run and not be weary”, (Isaiah 40:31). When I am yoked to Jesus (Matthew 11:30), stress and distress cannot find a place in my heart for the divine life of Jesus displaces all negatives. This is our birthright, learning to live in the river of Christ’s fullness – resurrection life for you and me.
PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, may we receive this word, that in any distress, you are purposing to enlarge us in Christ Jesus. As you are seeking to press us out of measure and into the fullness of your Son, may we bow to your wisdom, surrendering the comfort zone of measure. Thank you, Father, for the security of your love and faithfulness to us. Amen.
