Appearances can be deceiving. Have you ever done something with the intentions of it being a good thing only to find out everything you had just done was the exact thing that caused your destruction? In 2 Samuel chapters 1 and 4, two different men bring the news to David that his enemies were dead. Two different men were trying to kill him. The first soldier brought the news that Saul was dead. He had seen him suffering from a fatal wound and Saul begged him to finish the job, 2 Samuel 1:1-16. He brought "good news" to David. David was distressed, not relieved, and ordered that the messenger be killed. Then only what seems a short time later, in chapter 4, another messenger brought news that he had defeated another enemy of David's and this was his response. "Someone once told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ thinking he was bringing me good news. But I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That’s the reward I gave him for his news! How much more should I reward evil men who have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed? Shouldn't I hold you responsible for his blood and rid the earth of you?'
So David ordered his young men to kill them, and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron." (Vs. 10-12)
Ah, being the messenger is not always what it appears to be. Realizing this brings me fear and trembling before the throne of God! I find myself in a mix of emotional overload and struggling to organize it all inside is about to tear me apart. I want nothing more than to bring my life story to light, not in letting everyone know about me, but about His redemptive truth. With my life being so openly exposed, how do I do this without causing someone to stumble with the illusions that can be given. How do I keep my focus without loosing my head? (No pun intended;)
Its all about focus. What were these men focused on? The approval of David, a man. What is my focus? What are the truths that my story is telling? Is it just about me, or am I bringing the story around full circle and landing on Him?
Oswald Chambers, "If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment."
There should always be great apprehension about a new project, about sharing our lives, about telling others anything! But in the fear, where is our focus? In the sandbox, we are building. Go with me...
As a child plays in the sand he can do so many things. He can dig deep holes, he can find buried treasures. Most of the time is spent digging, looking down. But if he will get up, turn on the water and bring the water to the sand, he can then start building. The sand becomes sticky and his vision will change. He stops looking down in the ground before him and starts to look up. What he is doing is bringing in something that binds and changes his view. This is what we are to do. It isn't about what we have done, but what He is doing.
"The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice . . .” (1 Samuel 15:22). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17), Oswald.
As I go on the mission of delivering a message I must keep my focus. I must make sure that I am not seeking to please any one person in particular, but to please my God. I mustn't loose my head in loosing my focus. We do not know the final outcome of anything we are doing today. What we think our goals are, are often not His goals, but if we will keep our ultimate focus on Him our destination will be life. And in this we cannot fail! Where is our focus? Are we digging in the past, or are we looking up to the future in the now?
