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Faithfulness -- Principles for Working with the One Bag of Silver

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What you see God talking about in Acts 9 to Ananias is the same thing you see Paul summarizing in 2Corinthians, decades later. God had the plan. He had the works that Paul was going to do outlined before time began. The same goes for the plans He has for you and for me. Faithfulness always starts with our acceptance of who God is compared to who we are. He is the Creator and we are the created. He has the plan and we are supposed to follow it. The second principle of faithfulness is that it requires dedication and is built on a solid foundation to survive the times of testing.

 

One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them." So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. -- Acts 13: 2-3 (NLT)

These two verses are the start of the first missionary journey for Paul. Most people know the story of his conversion and they know the story of his missionary journeys but not everyone knows what happened in between. There are about ten years in between his conversion and his setting sail for Cyprus on his first missionary journey. Where was he? What was he doing? God may have had the plans all laid out but the timing was not right yet. Paul had some preparation work to go through. He had to remain faithful during the time God was preparing him. Sometimes we can get so impatient with God that we walk away during the very time He was preparing us for the works He has set aside.

 

The Bible does give us some insight into these ten years. As soon as he recovers his sight Paul begins to preach the Good News about Jesus Christ. He travels to Damascus and Arabia and finds persecution for his new beliefs. He returns to Jerusalem three years later and the Apostles are skeptical of this new convert. Additionally, his testimony is one that garners him a great deal of enemies. His former friends now wish him dead. Eventually the Apostles send him on his way back to Damascus. He spends five years there preaching in the surrounding areas as his reputation and testimony grow. Barnabas comes looking for him and they proceed to start the first missionary journey, nearly ten years after Jesus knocked Saul off of his horse.

 

This background is given so we can see that not everything we read in the Bible is smooth transitionally. Nearly an entire decade passes between the time Paul is called out and sent out. Between the times he is saved and then commissioned. That is a long time but God doesn't waste anything. Just like Joseph was not ready until the full 13 years in prison were up, Paul must not have been ready until the ten years had passed. He had to hone his craft. He had to learn his doctrine. He had to prepare himself for what lay ahead. Faithfulness has a foundation. It is founded upon a steady trust in who God is. Think how difficult it must have been for Paul to approach those that he used to hunt and try and convince them that he was now one of them! How humbling it must have been to attest to the saving grace of Jesus Christ after spending so much time persecuting anyone who uttered His name. Spiritual boot camp is never pleasant but it is vital so that we can be prepared for the good works God would have us do. Re-read that list of sufferings Paul endured and realize again that God knew they were all coming for him. If God had just sent out Paul without any preparation, who knows how long his faithfulness would have lasted. If Joseph is released from prison five years earlier maybe he seeks retribution upon Potiphar and his wife. Or maybe even on his brothers and family. Maybe that retribution ends the nation of Israel before it can even begin. God knows what He is doing beloved.

 

The final principle for today is that the more faithful we are the more responsibility God will give us. I remember when I was first saved at my old church. I was on fire and planning out all the wonderful things I was going to do for the Lord. I was going to create new ministries and lead this one or that"and God said, "Here's a mop, why don't you start in the bathroom You see, the pastor had a need in the baptism ministry as he had no men to help. So as a "favor" to him, I joined reluctantly. This was God however reminding me that Joseph did not start in the palace. David waited over a decade to assume the throne. Whatever ideas I might have had for ministry were going to have to wait because someone needed to mop the bathroom after baptism services and God wanted to see if I was doing this for Him or for me. As a side note however, the baptism ministry would prove to be my favorite ministry I have ever had. God always knows better. I was not going to start out preaching. I was not going to start out writing. I was going to start out mopping and if I handled that, God would give me something else to do and we would take it from there.

 

That brings us to the key verse today, taken from the parable of the three servants. The chief lesson in this parable is all about faithfulness and using what God has already given you, if you expect to see more increase. I think sometimes we have a pre-set goal in our heads and we are waiting for the realization of that goal without seeing that God may want us to get there in steps. I can tell you two things unequivocally about my ascent in ministry. One is that I most definitely did not want to join the baptism ministry and two; that God knew better. There were things I had to learn in the baptism ministry before God could bring me to the next level He had for me. Even that however, was not the level I was looking for. God had many steps for me to go through, learn from, and prove myself faithful in -- before the vision comes to fruition. Joseph had a dream when he was 16 that God delivered when he was 30. Were those 14 years wasted? Hardly. Those 14 years are what made Joseph who he was in God. Sometimes we get overly enamored with arriving at the destination when God is trying to get us to appreciate and learn from the journey.

 

In the parable of the three servants, we see a man going away on a trip. He calls his three servants together and according to their abilities he gives the first servant five bags of silver, the second gets two bags of silver and finally the last got one bag of silver. Here is what they did with what was entrusted to them:

 

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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