Poor Use of Faith

Read: Mark 4

"Take care what you listen to..." Mark 4: 24

Examine:

The Bible is full of passages like this one that point to the difficulty in hearing from God. It is not that God does not speak. He speaks often and freely. The problem is that when He does answer us or reach out to us His response does not fit our logic.

Hearing from God is not a passive process. It require us to be alert and active listeners.

Apply:

The parable of the sower found in Mark 4: 1-20 outlines three things that will prevent me from receiving what God sows into my life. First, Satan himself will steal what God gives if he can. The only way to combat this is by staying close to God. If I am in outright rebellion and have run away from the protection of my Father then I have to know that Satan will take whatever God sends to me before I even know it was there. I have to live my life in the good soil where the Father is and has made provision for His work to prosper.

Second, the pain of following will cause me to miss God. From getting into physical shape to starting a new business; anything in life worth doing demands risk, pain, and struggle. How much more so the things of God? Asking God to have His way in my life is not the same as asking God to make my life easy. If I pray for God to develop a deeper relationship with me He will respond. When He does, I have to be willing to endure the initial pain of obedience so that I can enjoy the fruit of obedience later.

Finally, having to leave my normal life will cause me to miss God. I am not sure why this aspect of following God is so hard for me to grasp. God does not intervene in my normal life just to make it sweeter. He always asks me to leave what is normal and pursue what is divine. This is the model found over and over in the scripture. From Moses to the disciples, when God intersected a person's life the trajectory of their existence changed. If I am not prepared to hear this I will miss God.

Pray:

I often ask for You to speak and move in my life but most of the time what I really want is for You to just make my life better and easier. Honestly, most of my prayers deal with more. I want more time. I want more margin. I want more success. I want more money. I want more power. I want more health. I want....more.

Greed is a poor use of faith. Your ways defy greed. Greedy ears never hear or experience the beauty of Your plan and purpose. I want to sit close to You and rest in places where Satan is unable to steal the seed You sow into my life. I want to be strong enough to withstand the initial pain of obedience, and I want to have the faith needed to walk away from everything that is normal in order to pursue Your purpose in my life. Replace my greed with being content to just say yes to what You ask. I hear a lot of things and life presents me with many opportunities. I pray that You give me the discernment I need to only listen to the things that really matter.