Endure!

Okay, so what do you do when you pray and nothing happens?

Here are some common responses to that question:

• I knew nothing would happen anyway.
  
• Complain about the problem to anyone who’ll listen.
  
• Wonder whether God heard me.
  
• Try to figure out a solution on my own.
  

All of the above responses won’t get you anywhere. The one thing you really need…actually the only thing you really need is endurance. A correlating word for that is faith. If you know what the Bible says about a certain topic, such as healing or forgiveness, then you’ve got God’s word on it. Find out what He has promised and get familiar with His solution for your problem. Once you know what He says, then you have a decision to make: do you believe Him or not? If not, you’ll have a huge battle on your hands that you’ll have to fight on your own.

If you do, however, choose to believe Him (and it IS a choice), then you have all of the power of Heaven working on your behalf. But it may not be instantaneous. You may have to wait. Who knows why? All I can tell you is that we are on God’s timetable, not the other way around.

So the solution is to endure. Hebrews 10:36 tells us, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise”. Anyone can have endurance. It’s a simple matter of waiting for God’s answer to manifest in your life. And waiting (enduring, resting) is His will.

Light for Every Man

There’s a wonderful scripture (John 1:9) that says, “That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world.” The light that is referred to is, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ. And the “every man who comes into the world” means just that. Every man.

So how does that impact your daily life at work? It means just this: every man is given the Light of the Lord when he comes into this world. Every man has the potential to live his life for God, but not every man makes that decision. Not every man wants the Light of the Lord in his life.

You all know what John 3:16 says, but John 3:17 says that “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Which corroborates John 1:9. God sent Jesus to everyone; His Light to every man so that the foundation for salvation and redemption was established on an “equal playing field.” But every man has a decision to make. Every man has the ability to take his name out of the Lamb’s book of life; but when he came to this world, his name was already written in it because of the Light that was within him.

So when you’re dealing with your co-workers, remember that each and every one of them has the Light of the Lord residing inside, whether they acknowledge it or not. Treat them as though you were speaking to that Light and not to their uncooperative or unpleasant flesh.

Remember that love never fails and it’s your “job” as a Christian to love your neighbor/co-worker as yourself!

The Bible is full of policies and procedures, a/k/a types and shadows, a/k/a patterns.

One of my favorite patterns is Joshua 1:8,9: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Let’s see if we can pull the pattern out of the scripture and create a procedure to follow every day, both at home and at work:

• Don’t depart from speaking what’s in the Book (the Bible).
  
• Meditate, think about, talk about, concentrate on what you have read.
  
• Perform, accomplish, activate and DO what you’ve read.
  
• Boldly do what you don’t necessarily want to do.
  
• Don’t be afraid. Life isn’t that scary! Just DO it!!!
  
• You’ll never be on your own because God will be with you wherever you go!
  

So let’s boil it down even further:

• Only speak what the Word says.
  
• Only think about what the Word says.
  
• Only do what the Word says.
  

Not that hard, huh? Go forth, Beloved, in strength and courage.