WHY BEING BOLD IN OUR GENERATION IS VERY HARD – PART THREE

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Jos 1:9  

Fear cripples. It paralyses. And because of it lives die. And yet when one has missed that - his true calling in this life, then automatically he sets himself up for depression throughout his entire life. No two people are exactly alike in this life whether in their desires, eccentricities or foibles. We all have crosses and temptations but which are particular to our own individual and unique self.

And frictions happen because we forget that, or because of what the writer George Morrison has called The Tyranny of Type in one of his devotional sermons. But many times we shun our callings in life because they are not popular, or there is no money in them, or because of outright fear. And so many bury their talents, like the man in the parable. But the end result for abandoning one’s calling is always depression later on in life.

I have met people. But they had been silent all their lives. And then they spoke, as if out of the blue. I didn’t know them, and they didn’t know me. But they spoke. And nothing but pathos came running like a flood out of their mouths. Why did they speak to me like that, and not to their loved ones? In a drift, they decried their lost lives. They had gained everything in life but what they had lost in it was much, much more! It is interesting. To escape poverty they had closed their eyes to everything. And now riches had opened their eyes to everything. It is a sudden clarity which can blind, kill or redeem when it strikes one.   

‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’ (Jas 1:17). May God grant us all the courage to live that truth. Yes it is sad but true. One can be in ministry and be depressed all their lives. One can also be in full ministry but only become born again after they have retired. Even sadder one can be in marriage and be lonely all their lives - until they go back to the field and search the place where they had buried their gift! And finding it they find themselves for the first time in their lives. But even more than finding themselves they find a treasure or the pearl of their lives – their God! And it is only then they can begin to enjoy their God in truth and spirit, and even more, they begin to understand for the first time the real meaning of fear and courage.

Writes Paul the following nuggets concerning spiritual gifts: ‘Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant… Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all… For the body is not one member, but many (1Co 12:1, 4-6, 14).  ‘For I would that all men were even as I myself’ expounds Paul, ‘But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that… Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God’ (1Co 7:7, 24). Be bold therefore, brothers and sisters (encourages Paul further), for, ‘Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men’ (1Co 7:23). And once you get your gift back, that satisfaction will begin to show on your face not only now, but it will continue even in your death and after. God we desire to glorify your name forever. Please help us find the purposes for which you called us here!

HopeisnotAshamed