The Purpose Behind Our Motives

I had written this a while ago, and for some reason I felt God telling me not to post it up yet. I don’t know, I just do what the big guy says. Maybe he wanted someone specific to read it. Again I don’t know, but I hope that you enjoy it. God Bless!

Well, the fall semester ended a little over a week ago, and I could not be happier to finally have some time to do absolutely nothing related to reading, writing or any form of work at all.

Or at least reading and writing relating to school.

Very recently, because I've had so much time on my hands, I've found myself having the opportunity to be able to read books that I normally would not have the time for, as well as time to write about various things.

The stack of books on my desk, as well as the several pages of written work on both my computer and smartphone could attest to the amount of work that I have committed to during my “leisure time.”

Unfortunately, as a result of all this reading and writing, I began experiencing something that I don’t normally feel during my breaks from school.

Stress. More specifically, stress about getting things done.

I found that the faster that I tried to complete certain things, the more stress I found myself under. I didn't mean to bring all this stress upon myself. I just wanted to finish as many books and write as many things as I possibly could in the short amount of time that I had been allotted during the break. Was that really so bad?

Well in my case it was, solely because of my intentions.

You see, reading and writing in themselves are not something that should cause anyone stress, but when I began placing stipulations or conditions under which I tried to do these things, then yes, stress could definitely be a factor.

Though, this was not really the true issue to begin with. Stress was just a fruit of the real problem that I was facing.

What I was doing was trying to breeze through all my reading and writing just to say that I read x amount of books and wrote x amount of pages. Though I did get plenty out of the books I read, and put in plenty into the things I wrote, my intentions were to race to complete something rather than to get something out of what I was doing.

Reading and writing aren't in themselves bad, but when I’m only doing something in order to get something out of it, or just to get it out of the way in order to do something else or do something better, than that is.

Many of us focus on the end result rather on the process that it takes to get there. Hoping and willing to get to the end of something is great and all, but that should not be our aim. We should be focusing on the process that it takes us to get there in order for us to appreciate what it costs to achieve it.

What I gathered very early on during my break from school this year, was that just because we may have good intentions to complete certain things does not mean that we do them for the right reasons.

School being a perfect example.

How many times have we completed homework assignments or papers just for the sake of getting them done? How much focus did we give those assignments? Was it enough to earn an A? Or, was it just enough to get by?

For me, though the many things that I was trying to complete was not for school, I was not aiming for a high grade at all. In fact, though I would say that I was proud of the work that I was producing and was “hoping” to produce, my motives were misplaced.

I was more focused about getting things out of the way just to say that I did them rather than getting the most I could have out of the situation; and for many of us, that’s how we go through life, just looking to the end.

Have we ever really stopped and thought about why we may be in a certain situation? What if those situations that we were so eager to get out of was a place where God specifically designated for us to be? What if we were so quick to get out of those situations that we missed a divine appointment set up by God?

When we are so quick to get out of something, because of stress, anxiety, fear, or anything else that is clearly not from God, we may take ourselves out of opportunities that God has set up for us.

You know that class that was just a “requirement” for graduation that we were so desperately trying to get through just to be done with it? Well in our attempts just to finish the work and let the semester bring an end to a class that we thought we shouldn't have to take in the first place, there may have been a person in that class that God may have wanted us to reach. Or, perhaps there was a lesson that God wanted for us to learn in the midst of what looked like to us as an “unnecessary waste of time,” and because we were being a “Ms. Debbie Downer,” we were so focused on ourselves that we missed it completely.

When we chose to focus on ourselves and the so called “terrible” situations that we are in, we tend not to demonstrate Godly character or for that matter see what God is doing in the midst of our “unfortunate” situation.

In Ephesians chapter four verses one and two, it reads,

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (New International Version. Eph. 4.1-2).

This verse tells us that we should be worthy of the calling that we have received because of God’s unfailing grace, but many times we don’t act according to the many blessing that God has given us.

As a result, instead of looking at the entirety of the scripture, “we” tend to target certain portions that “we” want to focus on, and in “our” misguided intentions, we may take the word a bit out of context. You know. Like we may do with opportunities and situations we are in.

Because of this, we may want to nitpick some parts of scripture and manipulate it to our liking. Perhaps even taking the word “prisoner” in the wrong context.

A prisoner has few to zero choices, because they are a prisoner, but when we act out according to how we feel according to what the world or the day throws at us, not only are we demonstrating our free will, but we are exerting it so strongly in the wrong way, that it brings us the furthest away from God and his will.

Our goal to complete something is fine, but our intentions and attitudes to how we do it may not be. The same could be said about how I've been reading and writing lately. My focus should not be on the end result, but on the process that it takes me to get there.

I believe Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, when he said “Life is a journey, not a destination.”

As Christians our destination should be heaven, but before we get there, this life, is a continual journey and a process.

Many times when I read a book, I think about getting to the end of a chapter, or the end the book, because I can’t wait to be done with the reading. But it’s in the middle of the actual reading that I experience the most development and growth.

When we push ourselves just to reach the end, not only are we forfeiting the growing and learning process, but we are cheating ourselves from getting the most out of something.

The verse above says “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

In other words, when we are doing something or are in a place where we wish we could be moved out of, we should remember that we are never anywhere by mistake, nor should we act is if we were.

If we would have been patient, humble and eager to demonstrate God's love to those God may have wanted us to reach in the classroom, amongst the copious other situations that God places us in, perhaps we could have been a blessing to those around us, instead of a hindrance and bad example.

Though the journey and process fall in the middle of the beginning and end of things, and is very crucial to growth, there is one middle that we should desperately try to avoid.

Allow me to clarify this.

Many times in our lives, we are posed with a simple decision to make. Either try or don’t, but there are many of us that fall in a very unique category known as the “or.”

Let me explain.

We don’t want to commit completely to something because, you know, it would require work or we may be “too” busy, but at the same time we don’t want to appear as a quitter or possibly a jerk if someone asks for our help. As a result we fall in an in-between, located somewhere in the middle known as the “or.”

The “or” is not a nice place. The “or” is the place where many people believe they are safe, because if they succeed, then they accomplished something without even trying, but if they fail, well, they didn't try that hard to begin with anyway.

They may also “feel” that it’s a safe place because in the “or” since one is not trying, they experience little to no stress. How nice right?

No. It is not a nice place and it is not a safe place.

For one, the outcome is always uncertain, because we are leaving things to chance rather than in the assurance of God. Second the “or” lies to us into believing that we are saving ourselves from stress when in reality we are cheating ourselves from an opportunity to not only succeed, but to show God’s glory in those situations.

In the book of Revelation, chapter three verses fourteen through sixteen reads,

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth (New International Version. Rev. 3.14-16).

If God would have made this anymore discreet, the bible would have been a pop-up-book.

When we opt for the “or” not only do we become complacent in our belief of what we think is safe or easy, but we chose our will over God’s. God loathes those that seek personal comfort over doing his will, but more often than not, we chose ourselves instead of God and in turn others as well.

Are our intentions on trying our best in order to be a blessing to others and in turn show the sovereignty of God? Or, are our intentions focused on trying to remain somewhere in the middle between our fears, stresses and complacency?

Colossians chapter three verses twenty-three and twenty-four reads,

“23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (New International Version. Col. 3.23-24).

In other words, whatever we do, wherever we are, we should work to the best of our ability, and with all our hearts, as if we are doing it for God.

So instead of allowing the stresses that we bring about ourselves because of our misguided motives and the laziness and complacency that occurs when we decide to take a vacation into the “or,” we should remember that there is a purpose for everything. God did not call us to ignore the people that he has called us to reach, nor to do things out of selfish motives.

Instead he says,

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (New International Version. Matt. 5.14-17).

Climbing Fig Trees

Over the past few days, I’ve been reading a book that I received this past Christmas, and though I’m not very far into it, there was something that really spoke to me today.

In one of the first few chapters it talks about a familiar story that we may have heard about before. Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector. Well as the title suggests, Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and during this time, tax collectors were not the most popular people, though he was pretty famous. Scratch that, he was actually rather infamous.

You see Zacchaeus was not just any old Tax collector. He was the chief tax collector. With his position, Zacchaeus had the authority of the Roman government to not only collect taxes from citizens in the district, but also to collect more than he should have.

As a result, tax collectors, especially Zacchaeus, were despised and viewed with much animosity by the people he “received” money from.

When I first read this description of Zacchaeus in Luke Chapter ten, I did not like him at all. In fact, I pretty much felt the same way that the citizens that were subject to paying those unfair and outlandish taxes felt like. He was a rich crook that preyed on those that already had little to begin with simply to make himself “richer.” He cared more about his shallow feelings of superiority and wealth, than those suffering at his hands.

At least that’s what I felt like at first.

Could you imagine what Zacchaeus must have felt? How he must have felt when he was constantly being made fun of and ridiculed? How about continually having to hear people mutter beneath their breaths when he walked by? Or, how about knowing that every single person in town knew exactly who he was, and hated him because of it?

Whatever ill feelings I had for him quickly evaporated, and I instantly felt sorry for him. I mean, it does not clearly say it in the scripture, but it says that he was “Chief Tax Collector” which means in order for him to have gained that position, he would have to have been a normal tax collector for a very long time. I’ll leave it up to your imagination to determine how many years he had been involved in this field of work.

So for a solid portion of his life all he knew was hatred from other people, which probably generated hatred on his behalf when it came to collecting taxes.

You know I wondered. If in all the hurtful things that people said to him and in all the pain and rejection that he must have felt, did anyone ever tell him about Jesus? It’s a solid question to be sure, but if people disliked him that much, I doubt it.

I like to imagine that while he walked the streets to collect money from the people, he would hear the name of Jesus and about the wonderful things that he was doing, and how he redeemed and changed people.

Wow.

Imagine Jesus actually coming to the town where Zacchaeus lived? Just the glimpse of this man would have been enough for him. But that would never happen. After all, he was just a tax collector.

In Luke Chapter nineteen verses one and two read,

“19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy” (New International Version. Lk.19.1-2).

Well that escalated quickly.

Not only did the man that Zacchaeus constantly heard about was making his way through Jericho, but he was close enough to see him!

Well almost.

You see, though Zacchaeus made sure he was never short changed when dealing with financial matters, his height was a different story.

This scripture continues in Luke Chapter nineteen verses three and four when it reads,

3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way” (New International Version. Lk.19.3-4).

Okay, get this picture.

Imagine the very same man that Zacchaeus constantly heard people talking about, for some miraculous reason was not only walking through his town, but was being surrounded by a huge crowd near him. This had to be too good to be true.

Fortunately for him, it was not.

What was unfortunate however, was the fact that he could not see Jesus behind the towering people in front of him. But Zacchaeus was not going to allow something like his own height get in his way from seeing the man that he heard so much about.

Shortly after finding out that he was not tall enough to see over crowd (no pun intended), he looked around and saw a Sycamore tree close by. So he decided to climb the tree and waited until Jesus came into view.

In Luke Chapter nineteen verses five and six read,

“5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly” (New International Version. Lk.19.5-6).

How do you think Zacchaeus felt then? A man that had become accustomed to being ignored and not even acknowledged by the people around; that only experienced animosity from the people that he would see on a regular basis; and feeling as if everyone wished that he had never existed, was being called by name, and given the title of host for the evening.

Now many people that do not know about the culture back then would say, “Wow. Jesus invited himself over for dinner? I never thought that he would be one to impose something like that.” And I was one of them, but what Jesus did for Zacchaeus by doing this, was much more than he had ever hoped to receive.

Back then, in the Jewish culture, when one would eat with another, it meant that they identified with that person, it meant that they were friends.

On top of that, giving Zacchaeus host like responsibilities meant that Jesus was putting himself in Zacchaeus hands. In other words the host being the host could have treated Jesus however he wanted or done whatever he wanted. What stands out to me from all this, was that Jesus trusted Zacchaeus with his life and as a result, Zacchaeus’ own life was transformed completely.

Jesus walked right up to Zacchaeus, called him by name, and did him the honor of inviting himself over Zacchaeus’s home for dinner.

For Zacchaeus, this had to have meant the world to him.

He finally had some one look at him. Not with eyes of anger or fear, but eyes that cared for him, eyes to tell him that he is loved. The eyes of a friend. As a result he dropped down the tree as quickly as possible and ushered Jesus to his home.

In Luke Chapter nineteen verses seven and eight read,

“7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (New International Version. Lk.19.7-8).

Apparently this caused a bit of confusion amongst the rest of the towns people. “Zacchaeus? Out of all the people him? The worst fruit on the tree! Why would Jesus want to spend time with him?”

Though the many people were puzzled with what Jesus had done, this was exactly what he had planned even before he had arrived to Jericho.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved” (New King James Version. Jn.3.17).

This scripture states that God came to save the world, meaning everyone, even those that are rejected by this world.

Finally, Luke Chapter nineteen verses nine and ten read,

“9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (New International Version. Lk.19.9-10).

These two verses embody the exact reason why Jesus came down to this earth.

To bring salvation.

And to seek and save the lost.

In this story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, not only did Jesus seek Zacchaeus and find him in a Sycamore Fig tree, but through friendship, and showing genuine kindness and concern for him, he brought salvation to him as well.

Literally. Jesus is Salvation.

Even when Zacchaeus may not have believed that he could receive those things based on what he heard said to him, God proved him and everyone else wrong.

For even when the world, or even ourselves, may think that we are the most rotten, spoiled, discolored, misshapen, bruised, worm ridden fruit on the tree, God sees us a different way.

In Zechariah Chapter two verse eight, it reads,

“8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye” (New International Version. Zec.2.8).

When God declares “that we are the apple of his eye,” he is saying that out of all the apples on the tree, we are the one that he desires the most. He sees us. The us that this world chooses to ignore. The us that God chooses to redeem and restore.

So, if anything could be learned from the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector, it would be that in order to see things from God’s perspective, sometimes we have to leave the crowds that keep us from seeing him, and find a place where we can.

Even if it is in a Fig tree.

Praying for Rain

Happy twenty fifteen! Wow. Honestly, I feel that every year comes and goes quicker and quicker. It must be an aging thing. Anyway, I hope that you all had a very blessed new years and that you spent it with people that you love.

Well today, though I went to bed near the proximity of four am due to “new year’s” “festivities,” I decided to nonetheless wake up at a very early hour to spend time with my wonderful God.

What would result from just starting, what I thought, was a little prayer of thanks, that I did not expect to last more than a few minutes, became an amazing time of seeking and pursuing and yearning for more of God.

It was during this long and blessed time with my Father, that he placed the book of first Kings on my heart.

Just to digress for a moment, now that I think about it, when I spend time with God and he places a certain book of the bible or a certain scripture on my heart, I like to imagine Jesus walking around a huge library while I patiently wait on a circular rug. Perhaps a red rug. Yes, a red rug seems nice. He carefully skims the columns of books on the shelves, and sometimes he even goes unto the huge ladder attached to the massive shelves in order to reach the books at the very top that nearly reach the ceiling. When he finds the exact book that he has been looking for, he makes his way towards me, cracks the book open, and begins to read me the story.

This is how I feel when I pray to God. I wait and I patiently pray until God finds the right book of the bible or the right scripture or the right lesson that he wants to read/teach me about and then he gives it to me. Sometimes it takes a while for him to find the book, but when he finds, the story or the lesson or the teaching, the time spent with him is always worth the wait. Which is pretty ironic actually, because that’s kind of what I read about in first Kings today.

My main focus in this book, were chapters seventeen and eighteen. Even while I write this, I just think about how good God is for sending this book to me via the Holy Spirit. Even more so to specifically start at chapter seventeen. I thought that I was just selecting a random chapter to start at but the Holy Spirit knew exactly where he was taking me.

What I personally received from these two chapters, was the incredible commitment to God that Elijah had, specifically when it came to prayer.

Now, before getting into Elijah and his incredible commitment to God via prayer, just for some background information and to summarize it as briefly as possible, Elijah came to this woman’s home because God told him that the woman would be able to provide him with food and water during the drought. Even though she said she did not have any food just “a handful of flour in a jar” and “a little oil in a jug,” it was nowhere near enough to feed Elijah herself and her son. Elijah told her that that the flour and the oil would not run out until God brings the rain. And so it was, the flour and the oil did not run out and they were able to eat every day.

In first Kings Chapter seventeen verses seventeen through twenty-four, it reads,

“17 Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, ‘What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?’

19 ‘Give me your son,’ Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?’ 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, ‘Look, your son is alive!’24 Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth’ (New International Version. 1Ki.17.17-24).

Elijah doesn’t say “this wasn’t my God!” or “how is this my fault?” Instead he takes the boy to the “upper room” and begins to pray. Now, it does not say how long Elijah was up there praying, but he went up there with complete faith and determination that God was going to bring the woman's son back to life. No matter how long it would take Elijah to pray to God to raise this boy back from the dead, he was going to stay in God's presence until it did.

How many of us can say that we pray until God speaks to us or until God moves? Personally for me I find it very difficult to remain in prayer, especially if I feel God is not moving or speaking to me, but it’s when we endure past those feelings that God sees our faithfulness and our determination and out of his grace, he blesses us.

It’s just like the library illustration.

God is trying to choose which way to bless us the best. Yet many times, we get “so” “tired” of waiting for God to pick out a “story” that we go out and try to find or make our own.

In first Kings Chapter eighteen verses forty-one through forty-six reads,

“41 And Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.’ 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

‘There is nothing there,’ he said.

Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’

44 The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel” (New International Version. 1Ki.18.41-46).

There is so much in this portion of scripture.

For one, Elijah had a tremendous amount of faith. He told Ahab to go eat and drink because it was about to rain, but in the next few portions of scripture one could clearly see by the many times that Elijah sent his servant to check if he saw anything, there was not a cloud in the sky.

Despite what human eyes could see Elijah continued to pray and he sent his servant to go check a total of seven times.

Seven.

The number seven has very important significance in the bible. The number seven symbolizes something complete or full. In this portion of scripture Elijah demonstrated and understood the power of complete and persistent intercession when he prayed without ceasing on behalf of the land and the people that were suffering because of lack of water.  

On the seventh time that Elijah sent his servant to check, toward the sea something amazing happened. The servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” Well yeah a cloud the size of a human hand may not have been much, but it was a start, and more than that, it symbolized something even greater.

The hand could mean various things, but I like to believe that the cloud that was in the shape of a hand was the hand of God. And, not only was he bringing the rain that he promised Elijah, but he was bringing something else that the people of the land desperately needed.

In scripture, the pouring of rain symbolizes God’s outpouring of his spirit. When we pray and seek God, not only do we find him, but if wait on him long enough for him to speak to us, he pours out his spirit on us as well; just like Elijah when he prayed for the woman’s son, and when he prayed for rain.

Today when I prayed, I did not intend to pray for long, and in all honestly I did not know what to expect, but I did find God and the “story” that he had for me. As a result of just continually praying and seeking I not only found him, but he blessed me with the wonderful gift of his word, and the opportunity to be able to write this post for you.

So with this New Year, I just want to challenge you. If you earnestly want to see a difference in your relationship with God, and you really want to draw closer to him, seek him.

Commit to him.

Wait on him.

Even when you feel like you are not getting anything, sit on that red circular rug and trust and know that the same way that God came to Elijah, every time without fail, he will come to you.

“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

   they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

   they shall walk and not faint”

(English Standard Version. Isa. 40.31).