And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Deuteronomy 7:22
When God led His people into the Promised Land, He did so step by step. If He had allowed them to annihilate their enemies at once, the land would have been too difficult to manage. So He allowed some of the enemies to remain for a time in order to maintain the land and suppress the wildlife. In doing so, God taught His people to trust Him step by step. He gave them only as much responsibility as they could handle at one time. As God leads you in your Christian growth, He will allow challenges that match your character and relationship to Him. God will not totally change your character at once when you become a Christian. Rather, He will lead you through a process to become more like His Son. He will keep working in an area in your life until it is controlled by the Holy Spirit. You may eagerly desire maturity in every area of your character, but steady, gradual growth is more lasting. God will not take shortcuts in His process of making you like Christ. He sees your life from eternity and will take as long as necessary to produce lasting spiritual growth in you. Do not become impatient while God is producing Christ-likeness in you. Do not seek more responsibilities than those He has given you. Obey all that you know He has asked, and He will lead you at a pace that fits your present character and His purposes for you. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
Oh the lessons that I have in this area.
I have on many occasions thought that I understood the plan of God for me and rushed into the fire only to be burned.
There's still other occasions when I have been right where God's Plan was working out in me.
My worst case that I can recall of rushing into something that I was ill prepared for caused me decades of time to retreat from. The lives it touched in probably the wrong way, the resources lost, those are lost to eternity and cannot be taken back. That's what not thinking before leaping does in my life and probably yours.
I still have mild nightmares about those days. The Spirit leaves my thoughts at that time as a reminder tied around my neck of what not to do. I don't argue the wisdom in His doing that.
I had been, much like Israel, shown where a ministry would be going that God had plans for me to be involved in. I, like some of the bad examples in Biblical history, rushed in. Letting go of God’s hand in the process. To say the least I was extremely unprepared, seriously ill equipped, no where near mature enough to handle where I went. I find myself praying many times for people whom I have never met whose lives I impacted negatively. My finite wisdom is no match for God’s.
I will not go into details. It's sufficient to say that I bear deep regret over those years. Wasted my time and efforts both getting into and struggling to get out of that situation. It's not at all that God abandoned me, but it was me who hadn't reached the end of me to cry out to Him.
I am indeed living out that ministry today that He had showed me decades ago. If only I hadn't been so wreckless in my thoughts as to get ahead of God maybe the lives of more would be more positively affected.
This ministry of which I speak is this blog. Even decades ago I couldn't fathom what I am doing with it today. I wasn't prepared. I have a computer repair ministry as well. That too God took years to prepare me for. We live in a microwave society that wants results in minutes and yet still complains on even how long those minutes take.
My Friend, my Dear Reader, do not think for a moment that your thoughts are equal to God's thoughts. With great patience receive instruction from the Spirit of God and await Him to be the one to direct your paths.
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight."
In our lives we may not understand God's wisdom. But we are to trust Him.
Right now we see Christians under attack, many losing their lives only because of what they believe. This isn't to at all say they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Spirit of God has not abandoned them. God's power over evil has not diminished. Not overseas nor even here in America. Most of the so-called Churches in this world deny Spiritual warfare. Most refuse to teach what the Bible says about it. Spiritual warfare is part of what took me down the wrong path decades ago. I deceived myself and rushed off without God's blessing or His protection. Right into enemy territory.
Many claiming to be Christians will find themselves still here after the Rapture. Contrary to what a CNN reporter wrote, yes the Rapture of the Church is a very real thing that will happen at some point in the near future. Yes it is eluded to in the Bible.
The reality of why secular people can't understand what they think they read in the Bible is because without the Spirit of God it's foolishness to them. 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Even if it's spelled out many unbelievers just won't get it. Those who's hearts that the Spirit is working on might grasp the basics in order to find salvation, but the deeper things of God will be hidden.
You and I must trust God for the direction of our lives. More often than not, just like Israel, we will be given just enough to either stand still or to see the direction to go.
Do not get ahead of God. This portion of Scripture is in Luke 14, not far after Jesus says to take up your own cross. "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Otherwise, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and requests terms of peace." Or as another passage says, Luke 7:35 "And yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Pray that you and God are on the same page. Pray that you aren't getting ahead of God.
Pray that you are living the life He wants of you. Do not quench the Spirit of God in your life.
We as yet may face the dangers in America as those in other places in this world. Live lives that show Christ regardless of what the world says. Satan knows his time is short. Knows that all his attempts to hinder the work of the Spirit has failed. God's Plan cannot be twarted by Satan's schemes.
Indeed do not get ahead of God, but find our where you are to learn more about Him, be obedient to Him and stay where He wants you to be until He moves you. You may only get just enough...but that's OK.
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