W hen G od called Abram, H e said, “I will make your name great” (Gen. 12:2). That means “I will develop your character to match your assignment.” N othing is more pathetic than having a small character w hen you have a big assignment. Many o f us
d o n’t want to give attention to the development o f our characters; we just want God j
to give us a big assignment. j
Suppose a pastor is waiting for a big church to call him to be their pastor. Then
a small church calls and asks, “W ill you come and serve bivocationally to help us here j
on the west side ofW yoming?” j
“Well, no,” the prospective pastor responds because he thinks, I am waiting fo r God
to give me a significant assignment. I have done so much training, I can’t waste m y life by work- I ing a secular job when I want to serve in a church full-tim e. I think I deserve something much more substantial than that.
H o w would you classify that response? Check one.
□ God-centered □ Self-centered
D o you see how self-centered that viewpoint is? H um an reasoning will not give you G od’s perspective. If you can’t be faithful in a little, God will not give you a larger assignment. H e may want to adjust your life and character in smaller assignments first to prepare you for the larger ones. That is where God starts to work. W hen you make the adjustments and start to obey Him , you come to know H im by experience.This is the goal o f G od’s activity in your life— that you come to know Him. Do you want to
experience God mightily working in and through your life? Then adjust your life to God and pursue the kind o f relationship in w hich you follow H im wherever H e leads you—even if the assignment seems to be small or insignificant. O ne day you will hear it said o f you, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt. 25:21).
Should you automatically assume every small assignment is from God? No. Whether the assignment is large or small in your eyes, you must still find out w hether
it is from God. However, always let God tell you. D o not rule out an assignment, large or small, on the basis o f your preconceived ideas. Rem em ber, you will know what you should do through your relationship w ith God. Never bypass the relationship.
i Suppose you had planned to go fishing or watch football or go to the mall. Then God confronts you with an opportunity to jo in H im in som ething H e wants to do. What w ould you do? Check your response.
Q I would finish my plans and then fit G od’s plans into the next available time in my schedule.
□ I would assume that, because God already knew my plans, this new assignment must not be from Him.
□ I would try to find a way to do both what I want and G od’s will. □ I would adjust my plans to jo in G od in what H e was about to do.
I have known some people w ho wouldn’t interrupt a fishing trip or a football game for anything. In their minds they say they want to serve God, but they eliminate from their lives anything that would interfere w ith their plans. They are so self-centered they do not recognize the times w hen God comes to them w ith a divine invitation. On the other hand, if you are God-centered, you will adjust your life to what God wants to do.
God has a right to interrupt your life anytime H e wants to! H e is Lord. W hen you accepted H im as Lord, you gave H im the right to help Him self to your life. In Jesus’parable o f the talents in M atthew 25:14-30, suppose that 5 times out o f 10 when the master had something for the servant to do, the servant said, “I’m sorry.That’s not on my schedule.”W hat do you suppose the master w ould do? H e would discipline the servant. If the servant did not respond to discipline, sooner or later the master would no longer assign any tasks.
You may wish you could experience G od working through you the way H e works through someone else. But every time God goes to that person, he adjusts his life to God and obeys. W hen he has been faithful in little assignments, G od has given him more important assignments.
If you are not willing to be faithful in a little, G od will not give you larger assignments. God uses the smaller assignments to develop character. God always builds character to match His assignment. If G od has a great task for you, H e will expand your character to match that assignment.
I Answer the following.
a. W hat kind o f assignments have you wanted the Lord to give you?
b. Have you been frustrated or disappointed in this area o f your life? Why?
Matthew 25:21
'Well done, good and fa ith fu l se rv an t! You have been f a i t h ful w ith a fe w th in g s : I w ill put you in c harge of m any th in g s . Come and share your m a s te r ’s h a p p in e s s !"
If G od has
a great task
for you, He
will expand
your character
to match that
assignment.
47E X P E R I E N C I N G G O D
c. Can you think o f a time w hen God probably wanted to use you in an assignment and you chose not to follow His leading? If so, briefly describe the situation. ____________________________________________________
d. Is the Holy Spirit saying anything to you now about your character? If so, what is H e saying?______________________________________
SUMMARY STATEMENTS
The m o m e n t God speaks to me is th e m o m e n t God w a n ts me to respond to Him, The m o m e n t God s p e a k s to me is God's t i m in g God develops my c h a r a c te r to m a tc h the a s s ig n m e n t He has tor me.
God has a rig h t to in te r r u p t my life. He is Lord. When i a cce p te d Him as Lord, i gave Him the rig h t to help Himself to my life a n y tim e He w a n ts .
e. D o your actions acknowledge Christ as Lord o f your life? If not, what response should you make to His claims on your life right now?
W hen God tells you a direction, you accept it, and you understand it clearly, then give j
God all the time He wants to make you the kind o f person He can trust with that assign
ment. Is it for your sake God takes time to prepare you for His assignments? No, not for |
you alone but also for the sake o f those H e wants to influence through you. For their sake, give yourself to an obedient love relationship with God. Then when He gives you
an assignment, H e will achieve everything H e wants in the lives o f those around you. ;
Write your Scripture-m emory verse (Ps. 20:7) on the following lines.
^ R eview your other Scripture-m emory verses and be prepared to recite them to a partner in your small-group session this week.
R eview today’s lesson. Pray and ask G od to identify one or m ore statements or Scriptures He wants you to understand, learn, or practice. Underline them . Then respond to the following.
W hat was the most meaningful state- R ew ord the statement or Scripture W hat does God want you to do
ment or Scripture you read today? into a prayer o f response to God. in response to today’s study?
1 1. For further reading on George Muller, see A. E. C. Brooks, comp., Answers to Prayer from George Muller's Narratives (Chicago: Moody Press) and Faith Coxe Bailey, George Muller (Moody Press).
2. Basil Miller, George Muller, The Man o f Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1941), 51. 1
3. George Muller, Answers to Prayer, 6.
W I T H A LL Y O U R M I N D . ” T H I S
IS T H E F I R S T A N D G R E A T E S T
C O M M A N D M E N T . ’ ”
M A T T H E W 2 2:3 7 - 3 8