Part 2
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
I. I wish I’d learned sooner to adopt the pace of God.
God is a god of patience, and that He takes years to prepare a man or woman of God. God is a planner, He is a strategist. He has a definite pace. His pace is one of a marathon runner, not a sprinter. He has your whole life in mind, not just tomorrow. He’s never in a hurry, never anxious, never pushy, and never late.
What I wish I’d understood sooner is what God tells us about Himself through Isaiah:
Isaiah 55:8–9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
God is letting us know straight up that He’s not like us! His thoughts are higher than ours, and His ways are not like ours.
So when we think we’re ready for something, God may disagree. When we think it’s time for something, God may say, “Not yet.”
But listen to what the Bible says about adopting the pace of God:
Isaiah 28:16
“Whoever believes will not be in haste.”
Notice, mature faith that believes on and trusts in the Lord will not be hasty, but will acclimate to the pace of God.
Proverbs 16:9
“We should make plans, counting on God to direct us.”
We should submit our plans unto the pace of God, and not demand they come about a certain way or in a certain timing.
I came to learn—not perfectly—that God’s secret is patience. Once we learn this, we discover that happiness comes from contentment with God’s pace—not in reaching a certain destination.
Psalm 37:23
“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”
So while we often have real difficulty with God’s pace, He in turn is focused on every detail of our lives, and is carefully preparing us for the next level! So adopt the pace of God, it will save you a lot of trouble and unrest, and will help you to enjoy the journey!
Notes
II. I wish I’d learned sooner that focus changes everything.
There are two kinds of focus I want to mention:
- The laser-like focus we need to accomplish our goals.
- The focus through which we view life.
A. First, the laser-like focus we need to accomplish our goals and God’s assignments.
1 Corinthians 9:25
“No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
Paul is saying that, as a soldier in the Lord’s army, he refused to get entangled with the affairs of this life—to become distracted by a million and one things that sapped his energy and took him away from his main purpose.
Now, there is no way we can avoid having to deal with the affairs of this life—we have to function in this world. But we can learn to say no to the things God hasn’t truly given us to do.
The two sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, are great examples.
Luke 10:41
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;”
Martha had allowed herself to get pulled away by inconsequential stuff from the very Lord of life sitting in her living room! Mary on the other hand had exercised laser like focus on what Jesus said would “never be taken away from her,”—His words.
Life requires focus, and focus changes everything—focus is the secret of strength!
Notes
B. The second kind of focus I want to mention is the focus that decides the kind of lens through which you view life.
We all know the story of the twelve spies that Moses sent across the Jordan to spy out the Promised Land. As they surveyed the incredible beauty of what God had promised to give them, two of the spies saw only ripe fruit, mile and honey, spectacular land, and incredible blessing. But ten of them had a different focus: they focused solely on the giants of the land, the weapons they possessed, and their size compared to themselves.
When the twelve returned to Moses to give a report, Joshua and Caleb were filled with a faith-driven focus saying: “We are well able to take the land and defeat the giants.”
But the ten other spies said, “Giants were everywhere and we were like grasshoppers in their sight.”
But you see, that wasn’t true—No giant had ever said to them, “You are like a grasshopper in my eyes!” No, the ten spies were grasshoppers in their own sight, because of their focus of unbelief. Their negative focus took them down, and all Israel with them, because their words terrified all the people.
Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Notes
One final things I wish I’d known sooner is:
III. I wish I’d learned sooner not to let things stick to me.
Illustration
One night some time ago I let my dog out back before going to bed, and when I let him back in was immediately hit with an unmistakable smell—SKUNK! Ollie had approached the wrong animal and paid the price. No matter what we did we couldn’t seem to get rid of the smell. It took many days and many baths to finally vanquish the smell.
Solomon said in Ecclesiastes we shouldn’t let things people say and do stick:
Ecclesiastes 7:21–22
“Also do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 For many times, also, your own heart has known that even you have cursed others.”
In fact, forgiveness will give you a Teflon soul—like the Teflon pans that came out some time ago that claimed nothing would stick to them!
First, this works vertically between us and God. When we make a mistake and sin, and the devil is using our mistake to beat us up with condemnation, we must go to the Father for forgiveness. When the Father forgives us, the mistake can no longer stick because we stand forgiven—Satan has nothing left to use against us!
When others hurt us with words or actions, forgiveness removes the offense so that it can’t stick. This is one of the main reasons I forgive others—so that their words and actions can’t be used by Satan to stop me from accomplishing God’s will!
It’s not always easy, and sometimes I have to forgive more than once before I’m fully free. But when I forgive, the devil loses his ability to make things stick.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 2:10–11
“Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. … lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
Notes