Influencers Weekly Devotional

Go With ME

Embracing our Sacred Responsibility with Christ

Refinement Though Waiting

"How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down this leaning wall, this tottering fence? They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken." Psalm 62:3-6 (NIV)

When the Holy Spirit whispers His invitation to us, "Go with ME", He also whispers...."with personal abandonment of yourself, and absolute trust in ME." In essence, He tells us to strip off the old man, and leave him behind. Why is this? The old man is self-centered and fear driven, for it is the basic nature of man to be this way. Although we men do not want to admit that at our core resides a spirit of fear, this becomes evident in our thinking and actions. It is fear that makes us create walls of defenses for dealing with people and circumstances. Do a little introspection and look at the number of decisions you make that are driven by your need to build a wall against your fear of failure, fear of vulnerability, fear of being duped and fear that comes in many other forms. This core fear debilitates spiritual growth and peace of mind. It will really hold us back in our spiritual journey to becoming the Champion God wants to make of us. Furthermore, our man-made defenses will do little to dispel the fear that resides within us. By leaving this old man behind, as a result of responding to Christ' invitation to Go With Him, God is able to begin the process in us of recreating a new man..... a better one. The new man Christ recreates is a man He can pour His own life through, without tainting the Living Water that begins to flow in him. This will be a man after God's own heart, a new man who rises from the one that was abandoned and left behind. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to disciple God's man into this kind of man. It starts with a deep conviction within us that suspects something is not right in our walk with Christ, that there is more to the Christian life than we’re experiencing. It then becomes a holy discontentment within us to seek and find an answer. The answer will always point to our need to leave the old man behind and become the new one Christ will make of us, if we will follow Him. If you have begun this pilgrimage, or now realize it is the next step in your Christian walk you need to take, there will be a necessary discipleship process God will use to make of you this new man. Do not be surprised, and certainly, do not be discouraged, when the process begins. Remember, it is only part of your training regiment, as your Heavenly Coach uses this process to make a man after His own heart. This "process" I speak of is Refinement Through Waiting. The transformational process needed to become God's Champion is very difficult because it is thorough. To be thorough, God uses long periods of waiting time for God to act on a prayer for a certain need or situation, which is a process most of us do not want to endure. The “refinement through waiting” process also has many applications, from finances to health. In all cases, we must suffer through some delay when an immediate intervention is thought to be required. When we get into the darkest hours of our waiting, we often cry out "Why Lord?" and only hear the echo of our question bounce off the walls of our room. To be sure, Refinement Through Waiting is the most transforming process we will ever face. But when it is over, a new man will emerge from the purifying furnace, a man forged into God's Champion. Concerning the waiting process, there is no greater test within it than waiting on God to defend us than when people, inspired by evil, whisper their lies with the intention to hurt us. Often this act is delivered through personal betrayal. King David went through just such an ordeal, as we read about it in his life story. He also gave us insight into the way he got through it, in the passage I have referenced in this devotional. Look at how he processed it: I've heard it said that it's OK to talk to ourselves. But we better get a little worried when we answer our own questions. However, this is not always true, for we see David doing it in the passage referenced. David is agonizing with the lies and deceit of people around him whose intention it is to undermine him. If it were not true, he could be seen as being a little paranoid. But the truth is that his life as king consistently saw this kind of opposition. Now, keep in mind, David was a warrior. So, we know he was fully capable of facing a foe in battle and physically dispatching his opposition. However, in the realm of politics and dealing with schemers around him, he was out of his element. I know the feeling. Being raised to be a man of my word and to play by the rules, I have had my greatest battles, not on the gridiron facing an angry behemoth in front of me, but rather, in being instructed by God to refrain from defending myself against the betrayal and deceit of another person. This was one of the most agonizing periods of my life, for not only was I denied the pleasure of taking revenge on this guy, but I also had to allow him to continue for a period of time to expand his deceit. There was no debating it. God made it very clear to me that I must obey Him and allow Him to work in His own time and way to both defend me and reveal what the man had done. It was in my own lonely hours of Refinement Through Waiting that I did as David did. Like David, I talked to myself and gave these words of assurance to my soul: "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken." I can say truthfully that the schemes and the schemer were eventually found out. God did defend me and cleared my name. But far greater to me was the benefit that came from it, as God forged me in His furnace of waiting and recreated a man He wanted to reform. I am so glad He did. If you find yourself in the furnace of waiting on the Lord, don't be discouraged if the delay seems too long. Be encouraged that God is working in your life, and when the process is over, His Champion will emerge. Therefore, wait patiently and expectantly for God to act. He hears your prayers, and there is a work He is doing that you do not see going on behind the scenes. Find rest my brothers, for He is your fortress, and you will not be shaken. Rocky TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE