STAYING PUT, STANDING FIRM

Jeremiah 42:1-44:23; 2 Timothy 2:1-21; Psalm 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 26:3-5

“You sent me to the Lord, the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply: ‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. … Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,’ says the Lord. ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power…. But if you refuse to obey the Lord your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here; instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’ then hear the Lord’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there, the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there.’”

“This is a trustworthy saying: if we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them. Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads like cancer….”

“For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, ‘The Lord is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!’”

“Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.”

“Stay put.” “God has a plan.” “Have faith.” We’ve heard it all before. What we want to know is, is it true.

The Lord’s pretty inscrutable when it comes to such questions. He puts us in situations, no doubt, but it can be pretty difficult to understand why, or what we’re supposed to do. We don’t handle ignorance as well as we should. We fidget; we fret. We’re not great at trusting. And we’re not normally content or even capable of just relaxing and standing still to face whatever is in store for us, either. We prefer to move, staying light on our feet. We dance around the real issues, having little faith that the Lord has prepared us “for such a time as this.” Thus, we actually tend to move away from the place and position in which we were placed before whatever we were prepared for happens. It’s no secret, then, why we don’t feel fulfilled. In our nervousness and disbelief, we simply are not where we were intended to be to fulfill our purpose. Elvis has left the building. We have gotten out of God’s way.

A dear friend signs most of his messages “gIHw.” For the longest time, I thought this was a typo, maybe a computer glitch associated with his e-signature. It made no sense. Finally, I asked him about it, and he made a really good point. (I’ll paraphrase, hoping I understood correctly. If not, he’ll certainly let me know!) He felt there is too much emphasis on getting out of God’s way, of releasing control, because most of us tend to take it too far. Whether we intend to or not, by disengaging, he was concerned what most Christians actually do is passively retreat and abdicate their mission of making disciples and growing in Christ. He felt that simply sitting around idly waiting for something to happen was never Jesus’ plan for his disciples. The Spirit wants us fully engaged, in partnership with Him, so we can move forward in His power into the work he has for us to do. Hence, my friend had taken to signing his messages “gIHw” as a reminder to us both to “Get IN His way.”

Excellent point. Christ never intended us to be “frozen Chosen.” By bailing out of a positive, proactive and responsible lifestyle in the name of “giving God control,” we do a grave disservice to the Body. He wants us actively recruiting for the Kingdom. We desperately need to get in and stay in God’s Way. However, at the same time, we need to find some measure of balance, because it is possible for us to move so far ahead we leave Him behind and soon, we are just chasing after our own dreams and visions. So, when do we move and when do we stand pat?

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have asked myself the same question. Is it time to change churches? Do we need to move to another area? Is this the right job? Are my kids in the right school? And so on. There is no formula. But over the years, as much as I hate to admit it, my instinct for change has repeatedly proven to be exactly the wrong reaction to the circumstance of life. Fortunately, between my wife and I, we normally make major decisions at the speed of, well…. Let’s just say the last one I recall was over a year ago. We’re not in a rut, we just choose our course very carefully. But we try hard not to move out of God’s way in the process of moving forward, too. Remarkably, when we are patient and considered, as frustrating as it can sometimes be to figure it out, we usually find we were right where we were supposed to be all the time.

It may be counterintuitive, and it can be extremely hard to accept, but the reality is that the best way for us to get in God’s way is simply to stay right where we are and just spend a little more time actively seeking His face and His will. This almost never changes our circumstances, but it sure can change how we see them and how we deal with them, and that can make all the difference. Jesus will come to us if we let Him. The idea we have to “move” or “change” to find either our purpose or His will can be an insidious lie of the Evil One designed to actually move us out of God’s way. So tread carefully. Tread considerately. Like Dorothy learned in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like Home.”