By Gobel Brockman
Several years ago while serving as Pastor at a church, I brought a guest speaker in. He did a great job, but what I remember most was a story I was told afterwards. He said that the first thing he did after every sermon was to ask his wife how he did, knowing that she would give him an honest answer. One Sunday in particular as they were driving home after service, he asked his usual question: "Well, how do you think it went?" He said that normally she would respond right away, but this time she just sat quietly for a moment. Finally, in a soft voice and with a little reluctance, she said, "Overall I thought it was OK, but to be honest I think the Holy Spirit quit about 15 minutes before you did."
(Today's lesson: If you don't want the answer, don't ask the question.)
OUCH. Ever heard the phrase, "The truth hurts"? That minister didn't hear it, he experienced it. But she brought up a good point that I want to look at this week: how often do we try to do things 'for God' and fail to realize that it wasn't His idea in the first place? Yes, it applies to sermons. I've been in church my entire life. My Dad was a musician in Christian bands that played in just about every type of church you can imagine. I've heard a lot of sermons that were great, but I've also heard a lot that I wondered if they would ever end. (There's a couple I remember as a kid that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the guy was STILL talking.) But it goes much, much deeper than sermon length. Over the years I've seen many Christians (including the writer of this devotional) who would "get an idea" that they were sure would revive and revolutionize the world, and then run with it. Their prayer in the situation was little more than, "God, please bless what I'm doing." So they would rush along with their plans, fall flat on their faces, and then blame God or others for the failure. The problem with that is we seem to forget one little detail: God never really told us to do it in the first place. Our "great idea" had one huge flaw in it - it was OUR idea, not God's. (Instead of praying "God, please bless what I'm doing," perhaps we should pray, "God, help me to do what you're blessing.")
There's a story in the Old Testament that illustrates this. Saul had been anointed as Israel's first king. Samuel the prophet told him to wait seven days until he arrived at Gilgal to give sacrifice to God. At the end of the seven days, Samuel was nowhere to be seen, and the people were beginning to scatter. Saul took it upon himself to go ahead and offer the sacrifices. As soon as he finished the sacrifices, Samuel arrived and was furious that Saul had not followed his instructions. Saul said, "You didn't arrive at the appointed time, so I went ahead with the sacrifice." Samuel told him, "You have done foolishly, for you have not done what the Lord commanded. God is looking for someone after His own heart. Your kingdom will not continue." As a result of his presumption, Saul soon lost the kingdom to David. He thought he would go ahead with God's work without doing it God's way, and he paid the price for it.
If you're a Christian who is determined to live for Christ and serve Him, God will open up many opportunities for you. If he has placed a desire in your heart to reach people, He will also open the door for you to do so. The thing we have to remember is that He will do it in HIS way and in HIS time. He doesn't need our advice or opinions on when the best time is; we need to wait on Him because His timing is perfect. I've seen Christians with the best of intentions do more harm than good because their desire to proclaim the Gospel was stronger than their willingness to wait on God's timing. God knows when it's time to act - and when it's time to stop and wait.
In other words, when the Holy Spirit quits, we should too. There may be honest people riding in our cars as well.
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