Even in that difficult work situation? Yes in everything. Even in the face of my medical report? Yes in everything. Even when the answer I got from God was no? Ouch, now we get closer to the problem. God essentially has three answers. Yes, no, and wait. The problem with the bless me theologies being preached today is that Christians are becoming conditioned to think that only a yes answer is a blessing. Romans 8:28 teaches us that in all things - yes, no, or wait - God is working it together for our good. When God becomes our own personal ATM however, we start to confuse who is the decision maker. God can say no and we can still force the issue. We do it all the time. This is normally where we find ourselves in grave trouble. We come back screaming at God - why! I'll tell you why. Because we didn't accept His answer the first time! God will always answer us. We just have to be better about seeing His will and sovereignty as being superior to what we think we "want." Sometimes, God has to protect us from ourselves.
Lastly, we see the opening of Jeremiah 33: 3. Call to me. The call is free beloved. 1-800-JESUS never has a busy signal. Twenty little words in one little verse but so many great promises contained within. So much waiting for us if we would just make the call. The sad truth is that too often we treat this as an emergency phone line only. We try to live in the world we are supposed to walking through. We pitch our tents toward Sodom and then are shocked when we find ourselves living there. We do not call to God when we are faced with our decisions - only when we are dealing with our consequences. God will still answer. God will always answer. We can save ourselves so much heartbreak and pain if we would call to God first, not last. He wants to be the God of our decisions not just our consequences. If David had called to God that night on the rooftop, he would never had taken off the belt of truth. He would not have lost his son and kingdom. God is waiting with the great, the mighty and the unknown to show us but we have to make the call. Don't believe preaching that sells you on the notion of lazy Christianity. We have a role. We have responsibilities. God does all the heavy lifting but we must pursue. When we are faced with that "harmless" flirtation in the office, we need to stop and call to God. When we are faced with that temptation to cut corners in business, we need to stop and call to God. In every life situation, in every waking moment, in everything we do - we must stop and call to God.
Call to God beloved. He will always answer. He will show you great things to counter the things this world wants to show you. He will show you powerful things to help you overcome. He will show you things you do not even know. The hidden, deep things of God. The call is always free. Make the call.
Reverend Anthony Wade - August 10, 2013
