And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Numbers 20:10
It is easy to see why Moses became frustrated with the Hebrew people. They were so hard-hearted and weak in their faith that Moses lost his patience and became angry with them. Yet every time Moses shifted his focus away from God, it cost him. When he sought to help his people by taking matters into his own hands, he spent the next forty years herding sheep in the wilderness (Exod. 2:11–15). This time his impetuous behavior cost him the opportunity to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:12). In his frustration at the peoples’ irreverence, Moses committed the very same sin, blatantly disobeying God's instructions. Moses allowed his attention to shift to the behavior of others rather than focusing on the activity of God. This could happen to you as well. God has put people around you who need your ministry to them. You will never be able to properly help them, however, unless your primary focus is on God. If you concentrate on people, their weaknesses, their disobedience, their lack of faith, and their stubbornness will quickly frustrate you. You may, like Moses, commit the very sins you are condemning. If, however, your eyes are fixed on holy God, you will become more like Him—gracious, forgiving, long-suffering, and righteous. When a friend's behavior disappoints you, go immediately to the Lord. Seek to discern what God is wanting to do in your friend's life rather than concentrating on your friend's sin. Then you will have the strength, wisdom, and patience you need to help your friend in the way God desires. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
In "The Karate Kid" Miyagi smacks Daniel on his head for not paying close enough attention. "Always look at eye!" The hands, more often than not, will go where the eyes do.
We can easily be frustrated, I know that it's an emotional response that I am well acquainted with.
I spent years being angry with me. It was a very painful time when God pushed me past that. As with Miyagi and Daniel, I was smacked on the head too.
Much as we are brought up to believe that the world is our oyster, to be all we can be. To be aggressive, be assertive, be zealous. To, well, you get the drift. The Bible teaches to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ. The temptations of this world are potent. They are powerful. Everything is almost possible to experience that the mind wants to come up with. You can fixate on just about anything. From constantly cleaning and organizing to all forms of entertainment. Doing things, things themselves, can be a silk rope of entanglement. You are so used to your routine and what you have made important that you miss what it is God's wanting to do with you. You are looking but not looking with your eyes.
It's not about how well you are dressed.
It's not about how clean your house is.
It's not your job, your families needs, it nothing in this world that's really important.
The eyes of the Lord look at the heart.
He searches the hearts. Jesus said that it's out of the heart things manifest themselves in mankind. The person who will be the most deceived in our lives is us.
We will adopt all sorts of ideas that we were never meant to have, to think or to do. Our sin nature is behind that.
We can have all the appearances of putting family first. But what if we are interfering with what God's trying to do with them? I am not implying to never help family, or friends, but we often rush in when maybe we shouldn't have. All too often the reason a person has never grown as a person is because they have been kept from ever skinning their knees. Someone keeps preventing the lesson from being learned. So God has to start over with them.
We are taught to look at this world with Spiritual eyes. To be aware of who it is we battle with. To know his tactics. To know his limitations. To always look eye!
Yet as Scripture says the eyes of this world have been blinded by the god of this world. People loved the darkness rather than the light because it exposed their deeds as evil.
A soldier, after or during a battle, likely will see many things that catch their eye. The spoils of war, so to speak, are likely numerous. Yet they must choose carefully what they carry with them. They can't afford to pickup everything that looks appealing. They couldn't fight while holding onto it all.
Sin so easily entangles. It's a silk rope. It's being wrapped in tissues. It can be broken but all too often we think it's made of iron.
Jesus defeated sin, death and the grave.
In Christ we have the same power to deal with sin. We can look for a life of peace and rest, away from the Spiritual warfare, but you won't find it. Your sin nature will still be with you. You can buy everything new and enjoy everything there is to enjoy and still find yourself empty. Ask King Solomon. He wrote about it.
Always look eye!
You and I have to look for where God is working and join Him. As a Disciple of Christ we join in what He is doing. We aren't to ask Him to join us. He isn't our Disciple. The Four Gospels show us that the 12 were being trained to join God in what God was doing. To deny themselves and obey. They were getting their eyes retrained to see what was important to God the Father.
As I have said many times, by no means have I arrived at any great level in my walk with Jesus. In much of my life He has had to repeat lessons because I didn't get it, I missed it, or I messed up. My most painful to me memories are when it was me who messed up someone else's life. I find myself praying that both Jesus and those people would forgive me.
How are your eyes this day?
Are you fixated on what the world tells you is important or are you looking at your life and the lives of those around you with your Spiritual eyes? Have you so embraced the world that you have forgotten its not your home? Open your eyes, it's time to get real.
No comments:
Post a Comment