The title of this blog says it all. But let’s unpack it little by little.
First of all, even though I use the phrase “God wants” don’t get the idea that I am suggesting God is dependent on us to do great things through or among. God is Sovereign and God is great and He does great things, with or without us. When Mordecai sent word to Queen Esther about the edict of the king to annihilate all the Jews, through the manipulation of Haman, Mordecai urged Esther to “go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.” (Esther 4:8). Esther, however, initially resisted the idea because of its potential risk. To go into the king’s presence without being summoned meant being put to death, unless the king extended the golden scepter in the one exemption to this law. Here was Mordecai’s response in return: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:12-14).
God will do what God is going to do with or without us. However, He calls us, invites us, wants us, and positions us to be used in great ways by Him! Sometimes that involves great risk; but the greater the potential risk, the greater the potential blessing! Esther, decided to take that risk (with the famous line: “If I perish, I perish”) and here we are talking about her and how “blessed” of God she was and what a “blessing” she was to the Jewish people in her time who were saved due to her intervention and intercession with the king! But had she not risen up, God would have used and raised up someone else, because He is Sovereign. He uses people, but He is not dependent on any one person or church.
Secondly. Some may struggle with God doing great things. We read of the great things God has done in the Bible and in the past…but is He still doing great things today and perhaps even more so, can He really do great things through us today? Our own unbelief can get in our own way. Actually, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, because if you keep walking in unbelief regarding God’s power, you’re not going to experience God’s power, which is only going to reinforce your unbelief. Some today would claim as they look around at their lives and situations that God doesn’t “work miracles” anymore like He did in the past and they grow cynical and bitter, feeling abandoned, discouraged, defeated and disheartened. At times we can all be discouraged and disheartened by our circumstances but what we need to do is stay focused on God’s unchanging character, lest we become cynical.
Gideon initially had this problem. Judges 6:12-16 records this: “Then the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
There are two parts here to Gideon’s initial unbelief. The first has to do with His thinking about God. He had heard all the stories of the great things God had done in the past, but didn’t see the same reality in his present. He therefore concluded that God must have abandoned them. But notice something interesting. God didn’t enter into debating Gideon; He called him to take specific action. That makes for a good point. If we want to sit around debating whether or not God does “great things” or not anymore, we will certainly not see it or experience it ourselves! But if we get up and go do what God is calling us to do, we will see Him doing great things! God hasn’t changed. Perhaps it’s we who need to change!
The second part of Gideon’s unbelief revolved around himself. Although technically, His problem was not that he saw himself as being too “small” or “weak.” His problem was actually that He didn’t see God “big” enough or “strong” enough to use him in this way! Perhaps you have this problem too. You limit God by looking at your “limitations.” You doubt God’s “strength” by focusing on your “weaknesses.” You limit God’s ability by looking at your inability.
Moses likewise initially dealt with this issue when God called him (Exodus 3-4). But the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 that Jesus said to Him one time: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response to this was: Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
When you feel weakest is when God can show His strength! It’s when you feel “small” that God can show how “big” He is! When you feel like you can do nothing, that’s when God can show how He can do everything and how you can actually do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13). When you feel inadequate, that’s when God shows His sufficiency. What would happen if instead of focusing on our limitations and weaknesses we focused on God’s unlimited power and unchanging character? Well…just read the rest of the story in regard to Moses and Gideon and see what happened through their lives!
But do you remember the story of the feeding of the 5,000 in John chapter 6? This is a great story in regard to the reality that God doesn’t only do great things; He wants to use us and include us in the process of Him doing great things!
John 6:5-6 records this: “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”
Don’t miss the significance of what is happening here. Jesus could have just made bread fall from heaven (think manna in the wilderness for the Israelites!) independently from man’s involvement. Instead He decided to involve His disciples. Now, can you imagine having this “need” put on your shoulders? It would be overwhelmingly impossible. In fact we are told: “Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:7). Whenever God involves us in something only He can do, it is overwhelming because it is humanly impossible. But notice earlier we are told: “He asked this only to test Him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.” (John 6:6). Thank God that God knows what He is going to do! And God is going to do what He is going to do. The fun part (though in the moment it seems overwhelming and exasperating if operating from a human perspective) is that He involves us.
Interestingly, if Philip was the pessimist, Andrew was the optimist. “Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:8-9). We may kind of laugh or even smirk at that…but Andrew is actually more in line with what Jesus had in mind, even though Andrew’s optimism wasn’t enough in and of itself! It’s as if even Andrew catches himself mid-statement as he is conveying what they have available and gets embarrassed for even mentioning it so he tries to dismiss it and retract it! Ever catch yourself doing that? You start to say something and realize it’s foolish and say “oh, never mind!” Andrew though optimistic, realizes not even his optimism is going to see them through this one!
That’s because neither pessimism nor optimism is true faith. Neither will get the job done when you are dealing with situations that require God and His supernatural power! Thankfully, what God is looking for is not for us to do what only He can do, but to have faith in Him and obey whatever He tell us to do.
“Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” (John 6:10-13).
Notice a couple of things. The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions which were very simple and doable, though involving some logistics. They were to get the people to sit down, (Matthews account in chapter 14, tells us they distributed the food) and then gathered back up the pieces left over. And in the process of simply doing what Jesus instructed them to do, a miracle unfolded that they got to be a part of! They had nothing to do with the power being demonstrated, but they did have something to do with it being distributed for people to be blessed by!
This is similar to Jesus’ first miracle in John 2 with the changing of the water into wine. Jesus’ mother told the servants to do exactly what Jesus told them to do. And Jesus told them to do what they were capable of doing; fill the jars with water, draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet: John 2:6-8. As they did what they were capable of doing, He did what only he is capable of doing! The key is to wait upon and then do what He instructs to do. Sometimes we want to do what we think we should do and try to “bring God” into it. That’s not how this works. We need to seek Him for wisdom, believing He will give it (James 1:5-8) and then obey what He instructs, even if it doesn’t make “sense” to us (Proverbs 3:5) or seem “sufficient.”
Secondly, Jesus could have done it entirely on His own and by Himself, but He included and involved the servants, as He included and involved this young boy and His disciples. Jesus took and used what was made available to Him. What this young boy had to offer certainly came nowhere close to meeting the need in a practical sense. Sometimes what we have to give or offer seems so insignificant to the need that is before us that we think: “why even bother?” We think “what difference can that actually make” or “how far can that go among so many.”
But Jesus didn’t ask us to do what we can’t…He simply asks us to give all that we can and have! It’s as we set ourselves apart to Him and give Him what we have that He “adds His touch” to it and does amazing things among us and through us!
In fact this is the key: obedience to Him and giving ourselves (and what we have) to Him. This is faith in Him. Before the Israelites finally crossed over the Jordan River and into the promised land Joshua 3:5 tells us that: “Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
The key to seeing the Lord do amazing things among us and through us in the future is by consecrating ourselves to Him today in the present. This word for consecrate means to “set apart” to “purify.” First God asks for us to give ourselves to Him, then He does great things among us and through us!
Purity is essential in knowing God’s power in fulfilling His purposes. Joshua 7 is a very powerful example of this principle. The Israelites, immediately after experiencing victory at Jericho, experience a devastating defeat at Ai. It as a battle they easily should have won, in fact they didn’t even take their whole army to fight! Thankfully, before more lives were lost, they didn’t just send out the whole army, but fell to their faces before the Lord to seek the Lord about what the real and root issue was.
God’s response was this in Joshua 7:10-13: “The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it.”
Purity is essential in experiencing God’s power and advancing in His purposes. There is a great need for Gods’ people individually and collectively to purify themselves of sin and consecrate themselves unto God. Confession of sin is essential for fellowship with God (1 John 1:9) and fellowship is essential for fruitfulness and effectiveness (Jon 15:1-8). If we want to be used by God personally, we must cleanse ourselves and consecrate ourselves to the Lord. Thankfully, being used by God is something anyone can “qualify” for, because cleansing ourselves and consecrating ourselves to the Lord is something anyone can do. God doesn’t need the smartest, richest, strongest, most skilled people (though He certainly can and wants to use them too!). God is rather looking for those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
2 Timothy 2:19-21 puts it this way: “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
When someone plays an instrument, they first have to clean and tune that instrument. Without regularly cleaning it and tuning it, it will not play as beautifully or harmoniously as it is intended to. If you go to an orchestra and hear the instruments being tuned before the performance; it sounds awful! But after being tuned, when they start playing their pieces in accordance with their parts during the performance, the sound can be quite moving and beautiful. For some this is the only part they hear or see. But there is always a process “behind the scenes” or before the performance that takes place in preparation for the performance. So it is with the person or church that God uses. There must be a cleansing and consecration process first. Only then are can we become an instrument that can be used for “noble purposes” “made holy” “useful to the Master” and “prepared to do any good work.”
It’s one thing to experience or be the recipient of a miracle, but a whole other thing to be involved and included in a miracle being unfolded! It’s obviously a joy to be blessed, but what about being a blessing? What about being the instrument through whom the music is played and the people are blessed?
In the miracle of the water being turned into wine, we are actually told that the master of the banquet who tasted the water that had been turned into wine: “He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.” (John 2:9).
There are two kinds of people: those who are recipients of God’s blessing and those who are vessels of God’s blessing. To be a vessel through whom God blesses we must set ourselves apart unto Him and give Him all we have as the young boy did in John 6. To be used by God, we must like His disciples in John 6 and the servants in John 2, do whatever He instructs us to do. Then we will see God do great things among us and through us, that only He can do, that He might be glorified!
So again, in the words of Joshua to the people of Israel before crossing the Jordan and entering into the Promised Land: “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” (Joshua 3:5). The Israelites did just that. They consecrated themselves, the priests obeyed the Lord’s instruction to set foot in the Jordan with the ark of the covenant (presence of God) going before the people and as they watched: God parted the Jordan like He had the Red Sea years ago. His power was once again being displayed in a new generation, as of old. Sometimes the scale of the miracle is smaller depending on circumstances, but it’s the same God behind it as we obey His instructions and consecrate ourselves unto Him! Without obedience and consecration we will not witness His power among us and through us; but with obedience and consecration (evidence of true faith), we will witness God doing great and amazing things among us and through us, for His glory! God still wants to do great things through us: Have faith in Him and show that faith by consecrating yourself to Him and walking in obedience to Him!
John 14:12-14: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Ben Foley 