A Word About Lighthouses, Fire, & Wood

Posted on July 8, 2011 by russellmckinney

One foggy night a captain saw a faint light directly in the path of his ship. Accordingly, he ordered his signalman to send out the message: “Alter your course ten degrees south.” The signalman did so, but the return reply was: “Alter your course ten degrees north.”

With his pride hurt, the captain ordered that a second message be sent out: “Alter your course ten degrees south! I am a captain!” But the light still didn’t move, and the reply that came back was: “Alter your course ten degrees north! I am Seaman Third Class Jones.”

At this point, the captain was enraged and ordered that a third message be sent: “ALTER YOUR COURSE TEN DEGREES SOUTH! I AM IN A BATTLESHIP!” The captain had to concede defeat, though, when the return message said: “ALTER YOUR COURSE TEN DEGREES NORTH! I AM IN A LIGHTHOUSE!”

You disagreeing with God’s written word, the Bible, is about like that captain expecting that lighthouse to move for him. In the end, either in this life or in eternity, that’s not an argument that you are going to win. God’s word has stood, is standing right now, and will continue to stand. Therefore, you disagreeing with it won’t change it, you getting mad at it won’t alter it, and you resisting it will only hurt you.

Jeremiah 5:14 is a very interesting verse. It reads:

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.” (N.K.J.V.)

Notice here that God compares His words to fire. When we think of fire, we think of its many advantageous uses. For example, fire can be used for illumination, cooking, warmth, purifying, forging, etc. Interestingly, however, God wasn’t telling Jeremiah that His words were going to be a blessing to the people of Judah. Much to the contrary, those words were going to destroy the people. According to Jeremiah’s imagery, the words would be the fire and the people would be the wood.

Here in America, we have reached a state as low as Judah’s. We argue with God’s word. We disagree with it. We doubt it. We scoff at it. We explain it away. We ridicule it. We ignore it. That’s why we, as a nation, stand as dried wood that is ready to be consumed by the fire of God’s judgment.

Perhaps you are like me in that you wish that you could change this about America. Obviously, we can’t because we aren’t the ones who get to set national policy, but what we can do is remain true to God’s word as individuals and take our stand with it in our own lives. Just as Jeremiah stood in stark contrast to the national trend of Judah, you and I can stand in such contrast to the national trend of America. And the great news is that, as we do this, God’s word will become a source of blessing rather than condemnation to us as we get to experience that word as a source of illumination, warmth, and purification. That, of course, is infinitely better than merely living our lives as dried out wood that is awaiting the fire of God’s judgment.

Posted in Bible Study, Coming Judgment, Current Events, Doing Good, Faithfulness, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, God's Word, Personal Holiness, Reward, Scripture, The Bible, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

In Training to Be Used Mightily

Posted on July 7, 2011 by russellmckinney

A budding young soloist went to a great Italian musician for voice training. The master handed him a piece of music and said, “Practice this for one full year and then return here.” The request seemed a bit strange, but for the next twelve months the young man faithfully did his practicing.

At year’s end, he returned to the musician, confident that the master would change his assignment and give him a different grade of music to learn. But it didn’t happen. The master simply said, “Practice the same piece for another year and then return here.”

Somewhat discouraged, the young singer returned home and begrudgingly rededicated himself to his task. For twelve more months he practiced that same piece of music over and over again. Then he returned again to the musician. As he went, he thought, “Surely this time I will be given a new piece to learn.”

Once again, however, the master instructed him to work at the same piece of music for another year and then return. But this time the young man objected. He said, “No, I want to practice something new. I have worked hard, and I deserve to move up to a more advanced lesson.” Stubbornly, though, the master held his ground, saying, “No, my son, the same lesson this year.”

So now the young man had a decision to make. Should he continue to trust in the great musician and keep practicing the same piece of music? Or should he question the musician’s expertise and seek training elsewhere? Two long years had come and gone, and the young singer had worked hard and done as he was told, only to see no fruit for his labors. Maybe it was now time to cut his losses with the supposed master and change everything.

The young man pondered the issue for quite some time, but in the end he decided to stick with the great musician’s training. So, he went back to practicing the same old lesson and faithfully worked at it for yet another year. Then he returned to the master.

This time, however, the singer wouldn’t be given any more preparatory assignments. Instead, the great musician simply looked at him and said, “Go, my son. You have nothing more to learn.” The young man was both shocked and relieved, but he took the master at his word and began auditioning for singing parts. He nailed performance after performance, no matter how difficult the song, and eventually he rose to become the leading singer in all of Italy.

How was such a thing possible? It was possible because that one piece of music the singer had so faithfully practiced all those years held within it a certain combination of notes, and that combination had allowed his vocal cords to be developed to perfection. The master, of course, had known this all along.

Christian, it may be that God has had you working on the same assignment for years now. And it also may be that you have grown very tired of singing it. So you’ve begun to long for something new, something different, something that will break you out of your rut. Perhaps you are right now even contemplating going off and doing your own thing because you are tired of living the life in which God has stationed you.

Well, let me ask you this: Could it be that for the past several years God has faithfully been preparing you to do great and mighty works for Him in the future? And, furthermore, could it be that even now your spiritual “vocal cords” are almost perfectly trained to handle those great works? You see, at this point, the last thing you need to do is short-circuit God’s whole plan by foolishly abandoning your master’s training and making some change that you shouldn’t make.

Call this a warning. Call it a word of encouragement. Call it what you will. But just know that God never sends out His servants unprepared, and if He still has you working on the same old assignment, then your training must not be fully completed yet. You ask, “How much longer will it be?” I don’t know. All I know is that there will come a day when God will send you forth to put all of your training to incredible use for Him.

Posted in Adversity, Choices, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faith, Faithfulness, God's Timing, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Impatience, Ministry, Music, Obedience, Patience, Perseverance, Rebellion, Reward, Submission, Teaching, Temptation, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Carowinds

Posted on July 6, 2011 by russellmckinney

I’m 56 years old now, and it’s been more than ten years since I was forced to come to grips with the reality of aging. On that day so long ago, Tonya and I took our two boys (Ryan and Royce) to Carowinds theme park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ryan was 14 years old at the time and Royce was 10.

It was July 4th, a day I look back upon now as being my personal Independence Day from thinking that I was still the man I had once been. Whereas I had always been able to ride every ride in Carowinds without any problems, I only managed to ride two that day. I had planned to ride a few more, but things didn’t work out as I intended.

My first ride that hot, summer day was a deathtrap known as The Drop Zone. For this ride, I got strapped into a seat that went straight up vertically into the stratosphere. Then the seat paused for a few seconds at the top to give me time to survey the entire landscape of the United States of America, after which it dropped me back down at about a million miles per hour to where I had started. That straight-line “death drop” transferred half my stomach into my brain. I don’t mind telling you that when I got off that ride I felt very blessed to still be alive. Ryan and Royce, on the other hand, who had ridden the ride as well, couldn’t get to the next ride fast enough.

Well, it wasn’t too long afterward that we came upon a roller coaster called The Carolina Cobra. Much to my surprise, Tonya, who hadn’t ridden The Drop Zone, headed straight for the ride’s entrance. From a few feet behind her, I called out, “Are you going to ride this one?” She answered, “Yes, it doesn’t look too bad.” The ride’s main feature was an upside-down turn, which did seem to be relatively harmless. So, the boys and I joined her in line.

Tonya and I ended up in a cart by ourselves, while Ryan and Royce ended up in another one. Needless to say, when the ride was over, they were in far better condition than we were. Actually, Tonya and I made it through the first half of the ride okay. Unfortunately for us, though, the ride’s slogan was “It strikes twice.” That meant that once the coaster had completed its course going forward, it ran it again backward. It was that backward run, which didn’t allow the rider to see what was coming, that got us. Just as The Drop Zone had taken my stomach, The Carolina Cobra took my equilibrium. As for Tonya, she didn’t feel much better than I did as we staggered off the ride together. Ryan and Royce, on the other hand, were on to the next ride at breakneck speed.

It’s very humbling when you are forced to admit that you aren’t the man you used to be. Of course, I didn’t really need a couple of Carowinds rides to teach me my new limitations that day. The fact was, I had been taking that course for a while. And I’m still enrolled in it. My joints ache. My back is dicey. My right knee is a bit suspect. You get the idea. Despite the absurd double-standard upon which the entire theory of evolution rests, science’s second law of thermodynamics states that everything winds down rather than up. In other words, things move from order to disorder. I assure you that my body is in perfect compliance with this law. As a matter of fact, I’ve now reached the point where I’m doing good just to be able to drive to Carowinds, let alone ride any of the rides there.

I think I can truthfully say, though, that I have successfully begun the process of making my peace with my advancing age. Sadly, that’s a process that many people still need to begin. I call it the “Peter Pan complex” because these folks simply refuse to grow up. The women are trying to hang on to their looks, and the men are trying to hang on to the vitality of their youth. How sad it all is. Furthermore, it is such a starkly different attitude toward aging than the one that is presented in the Bible. Consider the following passages (all from the N.K.J.V.):

The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness. (Proverbs 16:31)

The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their gray head. (Proverbs 20:29)

They (the righteous) shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing. (Psalm 92:14)

Now tell me, do any of these passages paint getting old in a bad light? Of course not. Losing your physical strength doesn’t mean that you lose your spiritual strength. To the contrary, the older you get, the more spiritual strength you should have. We make such fools of ourselves when we try to keep up with the appearances and demands of youth. I recall being struck by that thought as I sat there suspended in space in my seat on The Drop Zone, looking down upon the people below as they appeared to be about the size of ants. I thought, “Why have I done this? Have I lost my mind? What am I trying to prove here?”

So, I guess you could say that I had something of an epiphany that day in Charlotte. I realized that my days of riding the “big” rides were over. But I was okay with that then, and I’m still okay with it. I always thought that line, “Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse” was stupid anyway. As the Bible says, there is a glory and a splendor in gray hairs. I just need to remember that every time I see my barber sweeping so much of my glory and splendor up off the floor.

Posted in Aging, Change, Contentment, Elderly, Human Life, Parenting, Personal, Youth | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He Maketh No Mistake

Posted on July 5, 2011 by russellmckinney

My Father’s way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache;
But in my soul I’m glad I know
He maketh no mistake!

My cherished plans may go astray,
My dreams may fade away;
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead,
For He doth know the way!

Though night be dark, and it may seem
That day will never break;
I’ll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake!

There is so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight’s far too dim;
But come what may, I’ll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift,
And plain it all He’ll make;
Through all the way, though dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

A.M. Overton

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Comfort, Disappointment, Discipleship, Dying To Self, Faith, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Patience, Perseverance, Problems, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

God Knows What He Is Doing

Posted on July 3, 2011 by russellmckinney

A young man went off to college and was exposed to some points of view that questioned the existence of a creator God. By the time he returned home after his first year at the school, he had begun to drift toward atheism.

One day, while he was walking in the field with his Christian father, he shared his doubts. He said, “Dad, doesn’t it seem a bit absurd that a supposedly intelligent creator God would have a huge pumpkin grow on a small vine while a tiny acorn grows on a large branch? If I was a creator, I would put the pumpkin on the large branch and the acorn on the small vine.” Just then an acorn fell and hit his head. His father said, “Well, son, I guess you are glad now that God put the pumpkin where it is.”

Posted in God's Omnipotence, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Humor, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Class of Prayer (part 2)

Posted on July 1, 2011 by russellmckinney

When it comes to carrying a good attitude into a class (including the class of prayer), nothing will help you more than seeing the value of the class. In my last post, I told you about a French class I took in high school. Now let me tell you about another class from my days of academia.

In college my major required me to take an introductory class into the application of computers. At that time, computers were just on the brink of taking over the world, and my college was wise to mandate a basic class in how to use them. But to a young man who was still equating the electronic typewriter with advanced technology, such a class seemed at best optional and at worst unnecessary. I thought, “Good grief, it’s not like I’m ever going to work at NASA!”

So, as I had done with my high school French class, I began that computers class with a low level of enthusiasm. Since I had made it that far in life without relying upon computers, I figured that I could keep up that archaic pace. Little did I know that over the next few years computers would become nothing less than standard operating equipment for living in the modern world. I’m sure that when homes first began to be wired for electricity there were people who chaffed at the idea and couldn’t envision a home life void of lanterns and candles. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I wasn’t acting much differently as I sat in that computers class.

Perhaps, Christian, you are guilty of a similar mindset in regards to learning to pray. You are asking yourself, “Since I’ve made it this far in my life praying the way I pray, why should I change anything now?” At the risk of hurting your feelings, let me say that your attitude makes as much sense as my attitude toward that computers class. Whether you admit it or not, you need to learn how to pray more effective prayers. If you don’t learn how to pray ideally, you will forevermore be out of step with the times God has for you. Metaphorically speaking, you’ll be using lanterns and candles while others are enjoying the power of electricity.

Actually, though, my guess is that the majority of people would readily agree to the value of a class on prayer. With the exceptions of atheists and agnostics, most people would love to learn how to harness the power of prayer. The problem is that relatively few people are willing to put in the necessary work to excel in such a class. You see, learning how to pray takes work.

But let’s assume that you are willing to put in the work to learn how to pray better prayers. How, then, should you go about that work? As is the case with virtually any class, there is a textbook for the class on prayer. That textbook is the Bible. If you want to learn how to pray the best prayers you can pray, you must learn what the Bible teaches about prayer. This means you should study not only the Bible’s great passages on prayer but also the Bible’s great examples of prayers. To get started, seven of those great passages are: Psalm 66:18-19; Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13; John 14:13-14; Romans 8:26-27; Philippians 4:6-7; and 1 John 5:14. Likewise, seven of those great examples are found in: 1 Samuel 1:1-18; 2 Kings 20:1-7; 2 Chronicles 20:1-12; Daniel 9:1-19; Jonah 2:1-10; Matthew 26:36-44; and Luke 18:9-14.

So, Christian, are you ready for your class to begin? If you are, then make today the day you start devoting deep Bible study to the topic of prayer. And don’t forget that you must go into the class with a good attitude, see the value of the class, and put in the work to excel in it. If you will do these things, I promise you that nothing can stop you from learning how to pray prayers that produce manifested results in your life. Remember, the same Jesus who heard His disciples say, “Lord, teach us to pray” stands ready to be your teacher as well. His class is always in session and you can enroll in it anytime. As for what grade you make, well, that depends upon you. But don’t ever doubt that Jesus wants you to pass with the highest marks.

Posted in Bible Study, Commitment, Discipleship, Personal, Personal Holiness, Prayer, Scripture, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Class of Prayer (part 1 of 2)

Posted on June 30, 2011 by russellmckinney

In Luke 11:1, we read:

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (N.K.J.V.)

Christian, let me draw your attention to three things from this verse.

First, it was after Jesus had finished praying that His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Obviously, there was something uncommonly different about Christ’s prayer life. The disciples knew they didn’t pray as effectively and as powerfully as He did. Has anyone ever heard you pray and asked, “Will you teach me to pray like that?” What a compliment!

Second, it’s noteworthy that John the Baptist had taught his disciples how to pray. While the Bible describes John as a man who lived in the great outdoors, wore strange clothes, ate odd food, preached fiery sermons, and baptized multitudes in the Jordan river, we don’t usually think of him as being a prayer warrior. Nevertheless, he must have had expertise in the field if he was able to instruct others.

Third, notice that prayer is something that can be taught. Putting it another way, a person can learn how to pray. Prayer is not an inborn talent or spiritual gift. It’s not like a musical bent or an artistic ability. The fact is, nobody is a “natural” at prayer. That’s why we all need to become students in its class.

There is a difference, however, between merely enrolling in a class and fully embracing the class. I remember a French class I took in high school. I only enrolled in the class to please my guidance counselor. She wanted me to take French I and French II because some colleges required two foreign language courses for admittance, and French I and French II were the only options my school offered at that time.

The problem was that I had no interest at all in learning to speak French, and it was absolute torture for me to drag myself into that classroom in the afternoons. It should come as no shock, then, that I bombed out of that class. Even though I was an honor student, I felt lucky to pull out a D- for the first six weeks of the class. Frankly, my teacher was generous in giving me that grade.

So, what did I do? I dropped that class and never looked back! I can’t speak one word of French today, and I still don’t care. As for admission to college, I just looked around and found a good school that didn’t require two years of foreign language. Not only did I not regret foregoing that French class and the follow-up one, it irked me that I had lost six weeks of my life sitting in a class I loathed.

My point, Christian, is that even if you enroll in the class of prayer, you can’t go in with the attitude I had concerning that French class. Nobody can make you want to become a student of prayer. It has to be a personal decision on your part. If you see learning to pray as just one more chore to add to your list, you won’t be much of a student. It’s well nigh impossible to teach something to someone who isn’t interested in learning it.

In the end, me dropping out of that French class didn’t do any long-term damage to my life. But that won’t be true for your life if you drop out of the class on prayer. Whereas I could get by without learning a second language because I already knew a first one, you dropping out of the class on prayer would be akin to me dropping out of an elementary school English class. Do you understand the difference? Prayer is the basic language by which you talk with God. It is Communication 101. Therefore, the class on prayer really is core-curriculum education.

Posted in Discipleship, Personal, Personal Holiness, Prayer, Sanctification | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Someone Who Understands

Posted on June 28, 2011 by russellmckinney

A farmer had some puppies for sale. He painted a sign advertising them and nailed it on a post at the edge of his yard. As he was driving in the last nail, he felt a tug on his overalls. He turned around to see a little boy standing up against the fence. “Mister,” said the boy, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”

The farmer was a little embarrassed at the request because he strongly doubted that the boy had the kind of money he was asking for the pups. Trying to dissuade the little fellow, he said, “Son, these puppies come from fine parents and cost a fair amount of money.” The boy, however, didn’t give up so easily. He reached deep into his pocket, pulled out a handful of change, and said, “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to at least take a look?” The farmer couldn’t help but smile and answer, “Sure.”

He let out a whistle and called, “Here, Dolly!” Out from the doghouse and down the ramp came Dolly, followed by four little balls of fur, as the boy’s eyes danced with delight. But as Dolly and her pups made their way to the farmer, the boy saw another little ball appear at the door of the doghouse. It was noticeably smaller than the others, but it slid down the ramp with every bit as much enthusiasm. Then it began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.

Immediately, the boy pointed at the runt and said, “I want that one.” Now the farmer just felt embarrassed. In his most compassionate tone, he answered, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He’ll never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.” Upon hearing that, the little boy stepped back from the fence and began rolling up one leg of his pants. That allowed the farmer to see that a steel brace ran down both sides of the leg and attached itself to a specially made shoe. Looking up at the farmer, the boy said, “You see, sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he’ll need someone who understands.”

We all wonder why God either allows or (let’s admit it) causes certain things to happen to people. “Why?” is surely one of the most common words spoken to Him. Well, I don’t pretend to have all the answers that people want, but I do know this: At least one of the reasons why God either allows or causes unpleasant things to happen to people is because such things enable us to truly understand others who going through them too.

Tonya and I have two wonderful boys, but the fact is that we lost two other children, including our first, by way of miscarriage. During those incredibly difficult times I will never forget how various couples went out of their way to minister to us by sharing their stories of how they too had experienced miscarriages. Frankly, I was surprised at how many there were. These people had never spoken of such things to us, but once Tonya and I had to walk down that road, they instinctively knew that we needed “someone who understands.”

And now that Tonya and I have lived through the pain of those two miscarriages, we have the understanding to minister to couples who must endure one. Do you see how the divine chain of ministry perpetuates itself? Certainly no one wants to volunteer to go through something unpleasant, but at least we know that God can bring something good out of the experience.

So, Christian, keep all this in mind today and don’t be shy about ministering to those who are having to travel difficult ground that you’ve already traveled. Know that there is a person out there somewhere who is looking for someone who understands, and the person they are looking for is you. You just have to be willing to care and willing to share. And I’m happy to report that what you’ll find is that even as you minister to others, God will minister to you through the caring and the sharing.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Disappointment, Doing Good, God's Love, God's Work, Influence, Mercy, Ministry, Perseverance, Problems, Trusting In God, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Danger of Silence

Posted on June 27, 2011 by russellmckinney

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he surely shall live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.” (Ezekiel 3:17-21, N.K.J.V.)

There are a lot of old legends out there, stories that did or didn’t happen. One of them is the account of the destruction of an ancient city. In those days, the cities were surrounded by walls, with watchmen keeping guard atop the walls to warn if an enemy army approached.

As the story goes, the watchmen of this particular city were especially cautious and would sound the alarm anytime they saw anything stirring in the distance. This led to many false alarms. Finally, the citizens complained enough about the false alarms to cause the watchmen to stop sounding the alarm altogether.

You can guess what happened next. A real enemy army eventually stormed the city and destroyed it. Sometime later, someone erected a small memorial where the city had once been. The epitaph read: “Here stood a city that was destroyed by silence.”

The text passage for this post records how God charged the prophet Ezekiel with the responsibility of warning not only the wicked people but also the righteous people about the seriousness of their sins. If Ezekiel was faithful in carrying out his duty, he wouldn’t have any figurative blood on his hands. But if he was neglectful in carrying out his duty, the blood would be there. Anyone who can read those words and not feel some measure of sympathy for Ezekiel isn’t reading them correctly.

Since the days of the Old Testament prophets are long since past, God has now given Christians the responsibility of sharing His truth about sin. This responsibility means that we cannot remain silent about the sin that surrounds our world and threatens to destroy it. We must speak out. We must instruct. We must warn. If we don’t play the role of watchmen to not only the lost but also the saved, no one will.

I’m not going to lie and say that we will win all the cultural battles. The fact is, we won’t. But if winning the cultural war is the only reason we are crying out against sin, we are operating from the wrong motivation anyway. You see, God hasn’t given us the mandate to win the cultural war. Our mandate is simply to be responsible, diligent, effective, persevering watchmen. And no matter how much our fellow citizens complain, that’s a duty we must never shirk.

Posted in Abortion, Adultery, Coming Judgment, Commitment, Communication, Criticism, Current Events, Doctrine, Doing Good, Drugs, Evangelism, Faithfulness, God's Work, Homosexuality, Influence, Ministry, Missions, Obedience, Persecution, Perseverance, Politics, Preaching, Scripture, Service, Sin, The Bible, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Flow of God’s Will

Posted on June 24, 2011 by russellmckinney

In the November, 2002, edition of Focus On the Family magazine, the following letter from Tyson Chastain was used:

One Sunday my wife and I noticed an announcement in the church bulletin about a men’s missions trip to Honduras. Through God’s providence, I went on the trip. Upon my return home, I told my wife that we should pray about going to Bible college and entering Christian ministry. She began to cry and said that while I was gone, she had prayed for God to give me direction. When I went back to work, I received word that my department was being dissolved. That evening I asked my wife, “How strong is your faith?” She simply smiled, “You were laid off, weren’t you?” Needless to say, we are serving God as missionaries to Honduras today.

Over the years, during times when I was seeking God’s will about specific decisions, I have often asked Him to “funnel” me into His will. By that, I meant that I wanted Him to orchestrate my life’s circumstances in such a way that His will about the situation in question would become obvious. For example, if He wanted us to sell our house, He could send along a solid buyer and make the deal easy. If He wanted us to buy a car, He could help us get a payment we could manage. If He wanted me to take a church, He could have the congregational vote go in my favor. You get the idea. Accordingly, when enough of the particulars fell right into line, I would take that as God “funneling” us into His will regarding the decision.

A.W Tozer once said, “When it’s God’s will, it flows.” This simply means that when something is God’s will for your life, you don’t have to knock, beat, and hammer it into place. You don’t have to kill yourself to make it happen, either. You can just get in the current of what God is up to and ride the flow. Admittedly, there are times when the spiritual opposition against God’s will for a situation is so great that the flow is more difficult to recognize. But mark it down, some degree of flow will be there.

That letter of testimony from Tyson Chastain is a classic case of God funneling two submitted Christians into His will for their lives. First came Tyson’s mission trip to Honduras. Then came his wife’s prayer that God would give him direction. Then came Tyson’s God-implanted desire to go to Bible college and enter Christian ministry. Then came the loss of his job. You see, there was a definite flow to all of that. It might not have been a flow that we would have devised, but it was a flow nonetheless.

So, are you right now trying to discern God’s will regarding a particular decision? I would advise you to sit down and trace the flow of what’s been going on with your circumstances. It could well be that for some time now God has been funneling you toward the choice He wants you to make. If He has, don’t fight Him. Instead, just ride the flow and submit to His will. And if He hasn’t been funneling you toward the right choice, then start praying this prayer: “Lord, funnel me into Your will for this decision, and give me the spiritual eyes to spot the flow of that will.” Pray that prayer and mean it, and God will surely take you up on it. After all, He wants you to do His will even more than you want to do it! Why, then, wouldn’t He funnel you into that will if you ask Him to do so?

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