When we are ready

“Do you want to do something, or do you want to be a part of what I’m doing?”

That was the question the Lord asked me when I was getting frustrated with the timing of one of His promises.  I began trying to do my own thing… to take the skills and the talents the Lord had given me and bring it to pass in my own strength.

When the Lord asks you a question like this… the answer is pretty obvious.

So I tucked my tail between my legs and dropped down on the floor in humility, hoping He would scratch my belly.

It is a tough place to be in… a place of readiness.  When we are ready (or so we think) to move forward with Him… or FOR Him… and things just don’t seem to be happening.

We know that the Lord requires a sacrifice of the heart: a broken and contrite spirit.  We know that He desires a sacrifice of praise.

So we get out to building an altar.  And we try to make it look as good as we can.  But what does He have to say about that?

“And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.” Exodus 20:25

WOW!  We pollute the altar!

You see the difference between stone and hewn stone is this… God provides the stones whole and ready; when we cut it… we actually take away from what God has given us.

Our work is nothing.  We can’t do anything apart from Him.  We need to know that the Lord is faithful.  We can’t try to get out ahead of Him even though He has given us the skills and the materials.  Even though we actually can build the altar ourselves.  Even though we can actually go out and get some things done. 

We can get to fishing, and we can catch some fish.

“They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous.” Hab 1:15-16

But when we start to sacrifice unto our nets and our drag (our tools and abilities)… we forget who gives the fish in the first place.

God loves us too much to let us keep doing that.

Yeah… the Lord has blessed you.  He has given you gifts.  He has prepared you for a specific purpose.  He has made you promises and given you visions of the future.

So what now?  Where do you go when it seems you are in that place of readiness and you think the Lord doesn’t know?

“And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make [it] plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry”. Hab 2:2-3 emphasis mine

Hang in there… with all ten fingers.  He keep all of His promises.

SDG