"I would give anything for that."
Have you ever made that statement before? What were you talking about? Was it really worth everything you had? I mean come on...would you really give anything for an "ice cold coke" right now? Is everything you have really a fair exchange for "one more hour of sleep?" Because if we tell the truth, these are some of the trivial things we long for when making that statement. I know it's just an expression but words are powerful. I was reading something this week and it made me think about the value that I put on certain things.
In Psalm 119:72 it says "Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver." (NLT)
It made me stop and think for a minute. And here's what my thought process looked like:
I ask God for a direction in my life.
I mean, I try to stop and ask for God's direction in my life.
I know I need God's direction in my life.
God knows I want His direction in my life.
Doesn't He?
Honestly, I really do value God's instructions in my life but I don't know that I've ever vocalized it quite like that verse. There have been many times in my life that I have prayed and sought God's instructions and received them. But in an effort to be truthful here, I would have to say I'm not always diligent in seeking those instructions right away. So what does that say about the value I put on God's instructions?
I think when the situation or decision appears to be important we are diligent to seek God's instructions. Or maybe those times when the way doesn't seem logical we make the time to ask God what we should do first. But the bible (and at least my life) is overflowing with moments where people decided to make the decision on their own assuming they knew what God was going to say. After all, God's knows I want His instruction right? I don't actually have to wait for Him to show me anything, I can just move forward and assume if it works out then it must be God.
I can remember my first year of being a pastor. It was new to me. I had been in a traveling evangelistic ministry for several years but this was different. As an evangelist there is a saying that "you blow in, blow up and blow out." In other words, you come into a church, lead a really exciting crusade and get people really fired up and then you leave with everyone on that spiritual high. When I went on staff at a church it didn't take long to notice the difference. People were coming to me for prayer, advice, direction and leadership just like before but now I was staying around to see if what I said panned out or not. No longer was it about getting people excited and then leaving. It was about casting vision and then leading people to accomplish it. Suddenly I felt the weight to "equip the saints for the work of the ministry." And I didn't know how to do it outside the context of what I had done before. In my previous ministry I could just tell people what to do and then leave. Now I had to show them "how" to accomplish the "what." I was lost. So I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I would get up every morning, go into the sanctuary and fall to my knees and cry out to God for instructions. I can remember kneeling at that altar and telling God I needed to know what to do. I would just repeat the words over and over again. "I don't know what to do, I need help." And that's what He did...He helped me. That first year of pastoring I don't think I made one decision without praying those words first. I was desperate.
That was seven years ago.
Something occurred to me the other day though and it came through a LEGO set of all things. My son Isaac is obsessed with LEGO right now. But it's not the same as when I was a kid and you bought a box of random LEGO pieces and then allowed creativity to take control. Now they come as sets depicting scenes from all his favorite movies. They come in large boxes with step by step instructions. They can take hours to assemble these works of art that move and shoot villains off their towers. Without fail Isaac and I (heavy emphasis on the "I") will work to assemble these puzzles only to see them destroyed by the younger siblings. Pieces go scattering across the floor and under the bed. Worse they fall into the bucket of other destroyed LEGO sets and pieces. And of course this happens just days after he has thrown away the instructions of how to build this project. He brings the broken pieces to me expecting me to rebuild the Avengers plane that is now in roughly 463 different pieces. Why does he throw away the instructions? Because it was already built. It was done. He was comfortable with the fact that He didn't need those instructions anymore.
Seven years after surviving my first year as a pastor I have found myself more comfortable. But "comfortable" is not always good. "Comfortable" can sometimes make you throw away the instructions that helped you put things together in the first place. I've watched so many people pursue God in an effort to put their lives together. Desperately seeking instruction for their lives. Only to watch those same people lose interest in the writer of the instructions because they feel "comfortable" that everything is now "put together." Soon, their lives look like Isaac's bucket of LEGO. Broken in pieces, scenes of a life lost because the instructions have been thrown away. I think it happens to a lot of us. We get comfortable and we don't feel that same desperation for God that we once had.
I guess this verse was just an eye opener for me. One of those verses that makes you stop and ask yourself, "Do I really feel that way?"
When you need instruction, counsel, direction or whatever you want to call it, where do you turn? It's the not the counsel of others that was "more valuable...than millions in gold and silver." It was God's instructions. His words. What decision are you facing today? What circumstance do you find yourself in at this moment? What relationship is crumbling before you? What need has suddenly arose? What negative report did you just receive? What has you questioning your future? There is One that holds the instructions of what to do next.
James 1:5 (NKJV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
