Christian Living

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This was written almost a year ago. I was going through some of my writings when I ran across this. I was amazed at the relevance of this article (not the lack of promotion, that won’t be manifested until August or September), but the message of “God if you.” I thought it would be a nice article to share. I pray that you enjoy the humor of this, but I pray more that you gain from the revelation (from the Lord) in this article.

Christ’s servant,
Christian


God if you...


I am so thankful! I praise the Most High God, God the Father. I praise Him for so many reasons that I cannot list them all.

Praise the Father who loves His child so much that He will do what is right no matter what. Bless the Father who will not do as the child requests because it will not be beneficial. Thank the Father who knows the grander scheme of the child’s life and does what is best for that grander scheme.

I have a Father that loves me that much! Over the past few weeks (months for some of us) we have been lifting up my promotion in prayer. I want to thank God here and now for that promotion. No, it has not manifested this promotion cycle. I must continue to wait patiently upon the Lord. Because I do not see the gift from God at this very moment does not mean that I will not receive it. I confidently say that I will receive this promotion from the Father, not because I deserve it or have earned, but because I rely upon Him to grace me with it. I know that God will give this promotion because I know that all His promises are Yes and Amens, I know they are true. I will not be discouraged because I did not receive the specific blessing at the specific moment I planned. I will not refuse to thank the Father because He did not do it my way. There will be no self-pity, sorrow, grumbling, or complaining from me over not having my way. I will love, I will be thankful, I will worship, and I will bless the Lord God Almighty because He loves me that much.

I’m sure that might seem focused on my situation regarding my promotion, but it is not. You will see what the Lord has revealed to me during this time. This is much larger than my tiny speck of life. This is a life message to the Christians of this world. I have been telling people that all that happens (or in my case does not) in this life God uses for our good. I would be gravely hypocritical if I did not enjoy the flavor of my own medicine (The Living Word).

It does not matter what situation you are in at this moment of your life. It may seem like rock bottom or it may seem like the top of the hill. All things are for the glory of God. Do not put conditions upon your worship of God. I have done it in the past and so I am aware of when I try to do it today. How many of you have put a stipulation on your love, your faith, your obedience to the Lord. How many have said “God if you fix this situation I will go to church every Sunday . . . ” or “God if you help me out of this I will never do this again . . . ” Do those words sound familiar? Do they sound like something you might have done? I had my faith tested greatly immediately upon receiving my salvation. It was not a day or two after my baptism in the Spirit than the enemy attacked. When I was lead to the Lord I was in Japan and I was stationed on the USS Kitty-Hawk. At that time I happened to have been in charge of the division as well as two of the shop in that division. Being a shipboard engineer is a busy, stressful life. Being in charge as a shipboard engineer is that only on steroids.

I was at the time prior to my salvation the typical knuckle-dragging sailor that got mad at everyone and everything. During that time my typical responses to situations were either with vulgar cursing, physical beating or a combination. While I was coming closer to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I had myself on a smooth track at work. I finally had all the equipment working, all my people working. We had the place looking great and working (the two things to strive for as a boss). After I was saved that all changed. We were rapidly approaching another underway. As we started going through the motions of getting ready to get underway, the proverbial snowball started rolling down the mountain. You could have written a text book on Murphy’s Law citing the next few weeks of my life as examples. If it could break, it broke, if it could leak, it leaked. For those of you that have not met the world yet, this is usually about the time your boss starts looking in to see how things are going. Needless to say . . . boss not happy.

My normal reactions for this point in my life would have been as described earlier violent and vulgarity, but instead I placed my trust in the Lord. I said (or should have said, may contain slight paraphrasing and exaggerating for entertainment purposes) “Lord, I know that you were a blue collar worker at one point in your life, so I know you feel my pain. Your word tells me not to worry, so I will trust you and not worry. I cannot do that without your help, it goes against my nature. So if You will be so kind as to take my worry and give me peace, I would greatly appreciate it.” The funny thing is . . . He did. While that snowball continued to steam roll, growing bigger and bigger. I sang all the praise songs I knew while I was going about putting out the (proverbial) fires. If I ran out of songs then I used the Lord’s Prayer (the only one I knew by heart). Yes, people thought me weird(er) during this time, smiling and enjoying life while I should have been miserable. Every time I tried to worry I would stop myself and say this is not going to take the peace that Jesus had given me. Of course, every time I said that things got a little worse.

After about two weeks of testing my new found faith, everything started coming back together the way it should have. I went from the goat back to hero (with the Lord being the hero the whole time). All our gear worked, all my people worked, and all my bosses were happy. I could have done none of it without the Lord. At the time I was just happy with myself for keeping the faith when it got rough, now I look back and see more from that situation. At no time did I say “Lord if you fix this I will go to church twice on Sundays . . . ” or any other stipulation. There was no wheelin’ and dealin’ with God. There was only the faith that God was going to get me through it and the peace He gave me during it. I was thankful for the test of my faith, even during that time I was testifying every Friday to my Bible study group (who were the only church I attended at the time).

Is it easier for the new believer to be like that in that situation? To pull out and use all that new found faith and power. Or is it easier for the veteran Christian to know what to do in that situation. To see the problem, say the right prayer, and get er done? Those are just points to ponder on after were done.

The funny thing is, God will allow us to be put into difficult situations (especially of our own making). Sometimes we think we are right in the flow of our Christianity. Sometimes we are backsliding. Sometimes we are lukewarm. These are the times that we are found wanting and will be disciplined by God. When we are unaware of our iniquities, such as pride, false dependance, lack of faith, etc. The list could go on.
The Lord gave me a glimpse of some of this after I received the unofficial word that I did not get promoted this cycle. First He gave me peace over that lack of “success” but more importantly, He showed me the following:

1. Pride - Had I made it on this cycle I would have given lip service to God instead of full credit and proper praise, but then I would brag on my accomplishments that lead up to my promotion. I would have compared myself to other candidates and thought myself better because I was promoted and they were not.

2. Having other God’s before me - I started off rightly claiming the victory in Jesus. However, I started looking at my wants and needs of the future and started making my potential promotion the foundation for my plans instead of the Lord. I would not have given God the chance to meet my needs, nor would I have gave Him credit for meeting those needs.

3. Patience - God showed me that I need to continue on in faith with patience. I know I will get promoted because of God, it is up to Him when.

4. Integrity - would I be hypocritical when I failed to have it my way? Would it have been just running my lips after I told a co-worker before that I do not place an ultimatum on my relationship with God. I would thank Him, praise Him, and be faithful to Him even if I did not receive the promotion.

There are more scenarios of “What if’s” that were shown to me, but I will stop at these and recap my point in this long winded report. God loves you enough to do the right thing regardless of your plans and your desires. Do not put stipulations on your faith in God. Remember that no matter what situation you find yourself in, God is going to turn it for His glory and for your good, regardless of how dark and dismal it seems. God will not put you in a situation that He can’t keep your through. Put your love, trust, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will have your needs met by the Father. And finally, to quote my favorite line from a secular song . . . ”If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.” Praise the Lord forever. Amen

PS. The title is in all caps, not for shouting, but for my personal tracking purposes. Titles in all caps are non-poetic articles and studies.

© Christian Coutts

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