Keep on Track

"They said to him,

'John's disciples often fast and pray,

and so do the disciples of the Pharisees,

but yours go on eating and drinking.'

Jesus answered,

'Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast

while he is with them?

But the time will come when the bridegroom

will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.'

He told them this parable:

'No on tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one.  If he does,

he will have torn the new garment,

and the patch from the new will not match the old.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.

If he does, the new wine will burst the skins,

the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.

No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

And no on after drinking old wine wants the new,

for he says, 'The old is better.'"

Luke 5:33-39

The pastor sensed God's leading of his church down a different path.  Instead of focusing purely on teaching and discipling those within the congregation, he felt the new emphasis was to be on outreach.  He wanted to spend more time on sending out believers into the community in which they lived, encouraging each church member to form relationships with those they work with, live around and do business with.  He also strongly felt God's Spirit directing him to dedicate more of the church budget to overseas missions.

In order for this man of God to follow His Father's lead, though, he would need to support of the elders and deacons.  Unfortunately, this group had been doing things the same way for years and were resistant to change.  Their motto was, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

How often do modern-day congregations fail to act as conduits of God's grace because they are afraid of change?  Many times installing a new color of carpet, or switching from pews to chairs is considered to be so radical that leaders debate for weeks without ever coming to an agreement.  

It was kind of like this in Jesus' time, only instead of arguing about decor and budgets, Jewish leaders were disputing the way Jesus didn't follow long-held traditions like fasting.  Instead of being led of the same Spirit, these men were in opposition to what God was doing through the Messiah.  They didn't recognize His lead because they didn't know Him for themselves.  They only knew of Him.

It's important to guard against the same traps the Jewish leaders fell into.  These mindsets are common and run naturally within my own sin nature, but if I pay attention, I can avoid these familiar pitfalls.

Rigidity

She gets up early every morning, well before the sun rises, to study her Bible and have her quiet time.  She never misses a Wednesday evening or Sunday morning service if she can help it.  She faithfully teaches Sunday School to the children and is careful to tithe each month.  She never forgets to pray before each meal and always corrects anyone who uses the Lord's name in vain.  She is serious about her faith.

The puzzling thing that she can't get past is that she has no peace.  Her heart is mostly in turmoil and she constantly feels tired.  She works hard to maintain her strict schedule, but it leaves no time for pleasure or rest, and she's getting burned out.  She doesn't know what she's doing wrong.  Where is the joy and peace promised? (Galatians 5:23-24) Why does she so quickly lash out at clerks and waitresses who are just trying to help her when she's shopping or dining out?  Why does she go through life with a perpetual scowl?

There is a difference between following God's lead and doing a thing because I think it's what I must do to be a good Christian.  One brings all the fruits of the Spirit, while the other leaves me feeling exhausted from the effort.  Maybe I think I can fool others or even myself into thinking I'm on good terms with God, but if my heart is not fully in-tune with Him, He's not impressed.

Stubbornness or inflexibility can easily be disguised as one of the fruits of the Spirit: Self-control.  On the outside, my insistence on teaching Sunday School every week may look like faithfulness, but on the inside I could be trying to make up for past sins.  Sticking to a schedule can be helpful, but if I never leave room for God to work spontaneously, I'll miss out on the blessing of being used by Him.

As a child of God, I must guard against strictness and focus solely on cultivating a relationship with my Father.  When I'm in-tune with Him, I'll recognize His voice and be able to follow His lead.  If, however, I'm focused on my routine and list of do's and don'ts, I'll miss out on what God is doing all around me.

Rigidity runs counter to God's Spirit and makes me resistant to following His lead.

Blinders

Horse trainers sometimes use blinders to keep their animal focused on where they are going instead of getting distracted by what's around them.  Blinders are helpful for horses, but they do limit the peripheral vision.

I often have spiritual blinders on in the way my perception is clouded or blurred:  I only see what I want to see or what I'm used to seeing.  If God introduces a new way, I balk because it doesn't fit within my line-of-sight.

Perhaps I'm used to a traditional style of worship at church.  One Sunday I am shocked to hear drums, electric guitars and keyboards.  What happened to the organ?  I think.  I'm not sure if I can worship God this way.  Is it even appropriate?  The truth is, any instrument can be used to praise the Lord.  (Psalm 150)

Other times I may be walking down a busy street, fighting the crowds jostling for a seat on the city bus.  Suddenly, a filthy homeless woman accosts me with her panhandling sales pitch.  My way of thinking has already been established on this subject and I automatically reject her plea, quickly pushing past her so I can get to my next appointment.  My narrow sight blocked out God's gentle urging in the periphery of my vision to take time to treat her to a meal.

Maybe I strongly feel that God helps those who help themselves.  When someone who is down and out, without a job and in the middle of a nasty divorce, needs a little help and encouragement,  I look the other way knowing that the poor fellow just needs to pull himself up by his bootstraps and carry on.

God said, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  (Isaiah 55:9)  If I only rely on my own way of thinking, common sense and logic, I will miss out on the higher way of God.

Tunnel vision leads to a very limited field of sight, while God's vision encompasses all of eternity.

Service

The city boy placed the cart in front of the team of horses.  Perplexed at how he should fasten it to the harness, this inexperienced horseman thought the horses would push the vehicle instead of pulling it.  Once he rigged it up, he found out the hard way how absurd his idea was.  The power of the team needed to go first and the cart would follow easily behind.

It's the same with me and God.  I constantly feel the need to do things for God.  I want to please Him and think that the more I do, the more thrilled He'll be with me.  Unfortunately, that's getting the cart before the horse.  Before I can do anything, I need to be attentive to His lead.  It's like J. Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, said. "I used to ask God to help me.  Then I asked if I might help him.  I ended up asking him to do his work through me." 

I can't be in control of where God wants me to serve, and He certainly doesn't need my help, but I am created to be used by Him.  When it's Him working through me, it's like riding a wave into shore; before I know it I'm laying on the beach having exerted no effort in getting from point "A" to point "B".  The power of the surf did all the work.

In order for me to learn how to live in relationship with God, I will need to start with where I am.  Oswald Chambers explained this well.  He said we often tell ourselves, "'I can't be expected to live the sanctified life in the circumstances I am in; I have no time for praying just now, no time for Bible reading, my opportunity hasn't come yet; when it does, of course I shall be all right.' No, you will not.  If you have not been worshiping as occasion serves, when you get into work you will not only be useless yourself, but a tremendous hindrance to those who are associated with you."

If I insist on doing for God and never spend any time being with God, I'll never be used by God.  My connection to Him is more important than what I do for Him.

Putting service for the Lord over my relationship with Him hampers His work through my life.

It's easy for me to get into a rut, thinking I should stay on the same path I've always traveled.  But if I don't guard against rigidity, putting up blinders and placing service over relationship, then I will miss God's change in direction.  Instead I'd rather, "Listen for God's voice in everything (I) do, everywhere (I) go; he's the one who will keep (me) on track." (Proverbs 3:6 MSG)

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can follow God's lead.

How do I get caught up in doing for God, instead of letting God work through me?

When do I have blinder's on when it comes to certain issues?