Sometimes we can become so focused on the process that we forget about the presence. I sensed this particularly concerning someone in ministry who had become discouraged. Perhaps you feel as though your ministry simply is not taking off. You have done everything you know to do, and there are times when you wonder whether God has forgotten about you. God has not forgotten you.
Sometimes the problem is that we become so focused on making everything work that we forget the presence of God. We think, “Maybe I need to study more. Maybe I need more knowledge.” There is nothing wrong with knowledge, but sometimes what you need is not another piece of information. You need fresh oil from heaven.
God wants to restore His presence within you so that you minister from a fresh heart. He wants you ministering from a heart that is full, from the overflow rather than from lack. When the drought on the inside is broken, the water of life begins to flow again. There comes a fresh revelation of His glory, His presence, His love, and His mercy. It can even change the way you preach because now you are ministering from a heart that is free and liberated.
I believe God wants to bring us into another level in the anointing. He wants to teach us how to walk by the Spirit of God and trust the Spirit of God. He wants us to stop leaning upon our own understanding and stop trusting in the flesh. He wants us to become aware of Him every day.
If we focus entirely on the realm of this earth, we can become seriously discouraged. There will always be something happening around us. There will always be circumstances that can create fear, anxiety, and distress. But the same Holy Spirit who was present in the days of the apostles is still here today. God is still a very present help in a time of need.
Looking back over nearly fifty years of ministry, I can tell you that God has taken care of us. We have traveled across continents. We have been in Europe, Africa, South Africa, Asia, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, and America. We have traveled many, many miles, and God has looked after us.
That does not mean we have never encountered difficult circumstances. I remember being in a restaurant in Hampton, Virginia, when an angry confrontation suddenly escalated. Tables started flying, people were screaming, and for a moment it looked like something out of a television show. But when I look back over all those years and all those miles, incidents like that have been extremely rare.
I remember another time when I was backing up our fifth wheel during a snowstorm and did not see a steel post near a ditch. I damaged the back of the fifth wheel, but that was it. When I think about all the traveling we have done and all the places we have been, I see how God looked after us.
That is why I want to encourage you to trust the Lord. When the next thing comes your way that looks bad, do not allow panic to be the first thing that enters your heart. Let your first response be, “I'm trusting in the Lord. I'm putting my trust in God.”
There have been circumstances in my own life that initially looked like the worst possible thing that could happen. My mind could construct an entire scenario of what might go wrong, but then the thing I feared never manifested. God brought us through. Sometimes what looked enormous at first turned out to be nothing. The worst scenario my mind imagined simply did not happen.
We have to learn not to lean upon our own understanding. Do not keep looking to the left and the right. Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. Trust Him. It is going to be alright. Ultimately, we belong to Him, and at the end of our earthly journey we are going to be with Jesus.
This is also why I do not want you to make the enemy your focus. I see Christians becoming completely focused on the devil and on spiritual warfare. They talk constantly about warfare, but sometimes nothing changes. I do not live my life focused on warfare. I love Jesus. I serve Him. I walk with Him, talk with Him, and spend time in His presence.
I do not spend all my time telling God about every problem and continually begging Him to do this, that, and the other. God already lives on the inside of me. Think about that. Why would God live on the inside of me and then require me to struggle constantly just to experience His presence?
Jesus paid the price on the cross of Calvary. If He paid for everything I need and I then believe I have to beg and plead with God to make His sacrifice work, I am acting as though I have to add something to what Jesus accomplished. My response is faith, and faith, in its simplicity, is trusting God. I trust Him in every circumstance. I trust Him to guide me, lead me, and deliver me.
That is why I encourage you to spend time in the presence of God. Love Him. Worship Him. Adore Him. Become conscious of the fact that His presence is already within you. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. His presence is on the inside of you.
This changes the way we approach ministry as well. When I minister from lack, I am continually trying to produce something. I am trying to make something happen. I become focused on the process. But when I become full of His presence, I minister from overflow. That is where God wants us.
Maybe you have been discouraged because you have been watching everything happening around you. Maybe circumstances have convinced you that nothing is working. Maybe you have been so focused on what you need to accomplish that your heart has become dry. Come back to His presence. Let the drought break. Let the water of life flow again. Let God put fresh joy and peace within you. Let there be a fresh anointing upon your life.
Do not minister from an empty heart; minister from the overflow. When difficult circumstances come, do not immediately panic. Do not allow your mind to create the worst possible outcome and then live as though that imagined outcome has already happened. Trust the Lord.
Do not make the enemy the center of your attention. Make Jesus the center. Walk with Him, talk with Him, love Him, and spend time in His presence. God wants us to live continually aware of who He is on the inside of us. He wants us to learn how to trust the Spirit of God rather than leaning upon the flesh or our own understanding.
You do not have to live from fear, and you do not have to minister from lack. You can live from the overflow of His presence. Trust Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment