Are you facing trouble in your business or career? As you read the
following verses, be reminded that career people and businessmen here are likened to seamen in ships. The great waters signify the big world of competition, an ocean of activity. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. . . . They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end" (Psalm 107:23-27). These people are God's beloved saints. They are in awe of His greatness and power, but a storm breaks out that is beyond their control. It is not judgment for sin, yet suddenly waves are swamping them, swallowing up their boat. They are staggered by problems on all sides, and it looks as if their ship is going down. Suddenly they are confused and perplexed: "Their soul is melted because of trouble" (verse 26). Many career people have told me, "It looks bad. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I'm in a mess." They were able to solve their own problems in the past, and to escape one crisis after another. With this trial, however, there seems to be no way of escape. They are mentally and physically exhausted. How easily we forget that our loving heavenly Father is our partner in our work, regardless of our career or calling. Indeed, nothing happens to us without His involvement. He has power over all our difficulties and He has a reason and purpose behind them all. What can you do when your business partner has no advice and consultants cannot help you? Where do you turn when your spouse, your pastor, your best friend has nothing to say to you? I am not a businessman but I can point you to the seamen in Psalm 107: "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven" (Psalm 107:28-30). When Adam sinned, he tried to hide from God. When Peter denied Christ, he was afraid to face him. When Jonah refused to preach to Nineveh, his fear drove him into the ocean, to flee the presence of the Lord.
Something much worse than failure is the fear that goes with it. Adam, Jonah, and Peter ran away from God, not because they lost their love for him, but because they were afraid he was too angry with them to understand. The accuser of the brethren waits, like a vulture, for you to fail in some way. Then he uses every lie in hell to make you give up, to convince you that God is too holy or you are too sinful to come back. Or he makes you afraid you are not perfect enough or that you will never rise above your failure. It took forty years to get the fear out of Moses and to make him usable in God's program. If Moses or Jacob or David had resigned himself to failure, we might never again have heard of these men. Yet Moses rose up again to become one of God's greatest heroes. Jacob faced his sins, was reunited with the brother he had cheated, and reached new heights of victory. David ran into the house of God, found forgiveness and peace, and returned to his finest hour. Jonah retraced his steps, did what he had refused to do at first and brought a whole city to repentance. Peter rose out of the ashes of denial to lead a church to Pentecost. In 1958, I sat in my little car weeping; I was a terrible failure, I thought. I had been unceremoniously dumped from a courtroom after I thought I was led by God to witness to seven teenage murderers. My attempt to obey God and to help those young hoodlums looked as though it were ending in horrible failure. I shudder to think of how much blessing I would have missed if I had given up in that dark hour. How glad I am today that God taught me to face my failure and go on to his next step for me. Are you facing trouble in your business or career? As you read the following verses, be reminded that career people and businessmen here are likened to seamen in ships. The great waters signify the big world of competition, an ocean of activity. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. . . . They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end" (Psalm 107:23-27). These people are God's beloved saints. They are in awe of His greatness and power, but a storm breaks out that is beyond their control. It is not judgment for sin, yet suddenly waves are swamping them, swallowing up their boat. They are staggered by problems on all sides, and it looks as if their ship is going down. Suddenly they are confused and perplexed: "Their soul is melted because of trouble" (verse 26). Many career people have told me, "It looks bad. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I'm in a mess." They were able to solve their own problems in the past, and to escape one crisis after another. With this trial, however, there seems to be no way of escape. They are mentally and physically exhausted. How easily we forget that our loving heavenly Father is our partner in our work, regardless of our career or calling. Indeed, nothing happens to us without His involvement. He has power over all our difficulties and He has a reason and purpose behind them all. What can you do when your business partner has no advice and consultants cannot help you? Where do you turn when your spouse, your pastor, your best friend has nothing to say to you? I am not a businessman but I can point you to the seamen in Psalm 107: "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven" (Psalm 107:28-30). The whole world is trembling right now over the outbreak of terror and calamities happening throughout the earth. Every day we wake up to learn of another disaster. Some observers say we are witnessing the beginnings of World War III.
Non-believers are becoming convinced there are no solutions left, that everything is spinning into chaos because there is no “all-seeing governance.” But God’s people know differently. We know there is no reason to fear, because the Bible reminds us again and again the Lord has everything under control. Nothing happens in the world without his knowledge and governance. The Psalmist writes, “The kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations” (Psalm 22:28). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah declares to the world, “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein” (Isaiah 34:1). He’s saying, “Listen, nations, and give me your ear. I want to tell you something important about the Creator of the world.” Isaiah states that when God’s indignation is aroused against nations and their armies, it is the Lord himself who delivers them to slaughter. “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance…. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing…. It is he [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers…. To whom then will ye liken me?” (Isaiah 40:15, 17, 22, 25). Isaiah then speaks to God’s people, who are battered and troubled by world events. He counsels, “Look up to the sky, to the glorious heavens. Behold the millions of stars placed there. Your God created and named every one. Are you not more precious to him than they are? So, fear not.” We are to know there is a map in heaven, a plan that our Father has outlined for the course of history. And he knows the end from the beginning. As this plan comes to fruition, I believe we are to ask ourselves this question: “Where is the Lord’s eye focused in all this?” God’s eye is not focused on the world’s tin-god dictators or their threats. Scripture assures us these wild men’s bombs, armies and powers are as nothing to the Lord. He laughs at them as mere specks of dust, and soon he will blow them all away (see Isaiah 40:23-24). When Adam sinned, he tried to hide from God. When Peter denied Christ, he was afraid to face him. When Jonah refused to preach to Nineveh, his fear drove him into the ocean, to flee the presence of the Lord. Something much worse than failure is the fear that goes with it.
Adam, Jonah, and Peter ran away from God, not because they lost their love for him, but because they were afraid he was too angry with them to understand. The accuser of the brethren waits, like a vulture, for you to fail in some way. Then he uses every lie in hell to make you give up, to convince you that God is too holy or you are too sinful to come back. Or he makes you afraid you are not perfect enough or that you will never rise above your failure. It took forty years to get the fear out of Moses and to make him usable in God's program. If Moses or Jacob or David had resigned himself to failure, we might never again have heard of these men. Yet Moses rose up again to become one of God's greatest heroes. Jacob faced his sins, was reunited with the brother he had cheated, and reached new heights of victory. David ran into the house of God, found forgiveness and peace, and returned to his finest hour. Jonah retraced his steps, did what he had refused to do at first and brought a whole city to repentance. Peter rose out of the ashes of denial to lead a church to Pentecost. In 1958, I sat in my little car weeping; I was a terrible failure, I thought. I had been unceremoniously dumped from a courtroom after I thought I was led by God to witness to seven teenage murderers. My attempt to obey God and to help those young hoodlums looked as though it were ending in horrible failure. I shudder to think of how much blessing I would have missed if I had given up in that dark hour. How glad I am today that God taught me to face my failure and go on to his next step for me. In the first-century church at Jerusalem, the Greek widows were being
neglected in the daily distribution of food. Naturally, they sought the help of the leaders in the church. The apostles did not feel right about giving up their study of God's Word and time in prayer just to oversee this administrative task, so they called together the church body and said, "It is not reason [good] that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables" (Acts 6:2). As a result, seven men of "good report" were appointed to handle all the church's business affairs. In the meantime, the apostles pledged, "We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). The result of this arrangement was: "The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied" (Acts 6:7). The church grew because these men refused to neglect their primary task. Very few pastors today will make this kind of sacrifice. One minister looked me in the eye and said, "I simply don't have time to pray. I'm too busy. There are too many demands on my time." Another pastor confessed to me, "I haven't prayed in months. I meditate and have quick devotions occasionally, but I can't bring myself into the discipline of prayer." I don't want to condemn any hardworking, devoted minister of God. But the fact is, every servant rises and falls to his own master, and many preachers of the gospel today are not aware that they have become victims of a satanic conspiracy of interruptions. They are constantly on the run, bogged down under an avalanche of duties and details. I thank God we are never at the mercy of Satan or any of his devices. We can expose his tactics, speak the word of faith, and in Christ’s name stop every single interruption. By the power of God’s Spirit within us, we can clear our path to the Lord’s gates and come boldly to His throne of grace to receive help in our time of need. That is what the Lord desires for all of us. When the Spirit fell upon His disciples, they became fearless. As they
went forth to the temple to witness, the Holy Ghost made their words cutting, convicting — as swords piercing the heart. They preached the gospel with power and authority because they had Holy Ghost fire within them. Under this anointed preaching, in just a short time some five thousand people were saved. Even priests were converted. And further outpourings happened in nearby villages, in distant cities and even among Gentiles. The best part of this unbelievable scene is that the church got all of its direction from the Holy Ghost. Nothing happened until the disciples had shut themselves in with the Lord and fasted and prayed. When they did this, the Spirit came and began to direct their every move. Something else happened that was very important. The disciples were to take the gospel to every nation, every people, yet Jewish tradition forbade them even to touch the clothes of a Gentile. How were they supposed to bring the good news to people with whom they weren't even allowed to associate? It seemed to be an impossible command because even the Jewish converts held to these prejudices. The widespread proclamation of the gospel began only when the Holy Ghost took over. The Spirit visited Peter during his daily prayer time on a rooftop: "The voice spake unto [Peter] again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common (unclean)" (Acts 10:15). He told Peter, "Don't dare call unclean what I have sanctified and made clean. Now, go downstairs, because there are some Gentiles knocking on your door. I want you to go with them and preach to them about Jesus!" The Holy Spirit had solved the prejudice problem overnight. He opened up the Gentile world to the gospel simply by speaking to His followers. It was all clearly directed from heaven! The powerful first-century believers received all their marching orders from the Holy Ghost Himself: “So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed” (Acts 13:4). They never made a move until they first got alone with God and fasted and prayed. And the Holy Ghost answered them by giving clear direction! Like Paul, I have no confidence in the flesh. Some of the godliest people
I have known have failed God miserably. I think of the awful temptation and failure of David, a man after God's heart. David was sorely tempted, fell into adultery, lied and then murdered an innocent man. I'm sure that when the prophet Nathan exposed him, Satan was convinced David was down for the count. He expected this man to throw up his hands and say, "What's the use? I have disgraced God! I have sinned against the light and committed the very sins I've preached against. God can never use me now. My heart is too black. I have been overpowered by sin." How wrong Satan was. Listen to David's cries after he repented: "The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death" (Psalm 118:18). David said, "I was tempted and tried but God would not turn me over to Satan's power." Beloved, if the devil comes at you with powerful temptations, it is not always because your heart is wicked. He could be attacking you because you have turned to the Lord. He is bringing fiery trials of lust and temptation against you to try to destroy your faith. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you" (1 Peter 4:12). "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). There is nothing at all strange about what is happening to you. You may be discouraged because the enemy has come against you like a flood. The attack could be through temptation, lust, marriage problems, a financial crisis. You may be saying to yourself, "Here I am trying to serve the Lord, doing my best to love Him and be faithful to Him. But things just keep getting worse. Is there something wrong with me? Why can't I get out of this hole? Why do my problems keep piling up?" I urge you to look to your right, to your left, in front of you, behind you. Everybody is going through something. Behind the smiles of your dear brothers and sisters in Christ are many tears. They are hurting with trials you know nothing about. No, you are not alone in your suffering and your trial is not some strange, unusual circumstance. What you are going through is common to multitudes. Today As Jesus spent his last hours with his disciples, he said to them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23). Then he told them, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (16:24). What an incredible statement. As this scene took place, Christ was warning his followers that he was going away, and he wouldn't see them for a short time. Yet, in the very same breath, he assured them they had access to every blessing of heaven. All they had to do was ask in his name. The disciples had been personally taught by Jesus to knock, seek, and ask for the things of God. They were taught firsthand that all of the blessings of the Father—all grace, power and strength—were found in Christ. And they'd heard Jesus declare to the multitudes: "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:12–14). Christ's words to his disciples convict me: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name" (John 16:24). As I read this, I hear the Lord whispering to me, "David, you haven't claimed the power I've made available to you. You simply need to ask in my name." Here is what I believe grieves God's heart more than all the sins of the flesh combined. Our Lord is grieved by the ever-growing lack of faith in his promises…by ever-increasing doubts that he answers prayer…and by a people who claim less and less of the power that is in Christ. No matter how much you have asked of the likeness of Christ, it is nothing compared to the resources of spiritual wisdom still awaiting in his storehouse. Ask largely! Ask for wisdom, ask for guidance, ask for revelation. But it must be asked in faith, nothing doubting. |
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