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Pastor's January 2012 Message |
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FINDING THE BALANCE “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 As we enter into a new year, it is in our nature to make plans. The challenge we face is where God fits into those plans; or better to say, where does God fit in the planning? As we wrestle with this challenge, we need to be aware of “the ditch on either side of the road” so as to find the balance and walk in the middle. Whereas it is true that in some things, we need to come down solidly on one side or the other – no “luke-warm” choice is acceptable – in other things, we need to find the middle and allow ourselves to ‘feel’ the tug of both extremes. One of those things is planning for the future. The one extreme – or ditch – is “being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.” The other is “being so earthly minded that you are no heavenly good.” An example of the first is the farmer who says that “God will provide” but doesn’t put any seed into the ground. An example of the second is the farmer that works 16 hours a day, seven days a week and has no time for anything but work. Finding the balance is the farmer who wakes up early to pray over his field, works hard to plant the seed and cultivate it, takes time off to play with his kids, partner with his wife and worship his God, and then works hard to harvest his crops. So how does that apply to Messiah? It is good stewardship to have a plan for ministry and to organize in such a way as to achieve it. In order for that to happen, there will need to be hard work in researching ideas, discussing possibilities, communicating possible choices, soliciting input and processing responses. But the way we go about that work is of paramount importance. To do all the work AND THEN ask God to bless what we have determined is to fall in the ditch of “being no heavenly good.” To short-cut the process with little research, token discussion, poor communication and then to expect God to show us His will is to fall in the ditch of “being no earthly good.” There is a saying that puts it this way, “Work as if it all depends on you, pray KNOWING that it all depends on God.” So as we begin this year 2012, we begin with a prayer for the revelation of God’s will so that we can join Him in what He wants done rather than ask Him to join us in what we want done. Then, we go to work researching, discussing, communicating ideas, soliciting input, processing response all in the attempt to discover where God wants us to be. In the process, we may experience some surprises as He adds something to the mix that we had not expected, or He takes away something that we had counted on. But as Solomon says, it is in our heart to plan, but we submit our hearts to a God who may establish our steps in a different direction.
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