Ecclesiastes 9:11.. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned..
Wow.. ok.
Around New Year's there comes a lot of talk about achieving "GREAT" things in the coming year.
Authors capitalize on this by writing books and articles like "Reaching your Biggest Dreams in 2017".. Magazine covers are full of quotes such as "Ten Things that will make 2017 Your Greatest Year Ever!!". Even Pastors get on this wagon and preach inspiring sermons on "Shaking the World in 2017"... or... "Five Breakthroughs You Absolutely Need in 2017".
This all leaves many people breathless who quietly say; "I don't want to shake the world in 2017"... hahaha.. I just want to kind of have a good year, stay out of trouble and keep healthy..."
And fair enough! People don't necessarily have Mount Everest in their sites this year.. They aren't secretly hoping to change the world... they DO want to have a good year... and by in large, they have hopes of health and a reasonable amount of forward movement. All this other stuff puts a lot of pressure on people... between the authors, the magazines and the Pastors we end up feeling like we're supposed to put on a red suit and cape on Jan 1 and spend the year conquering all that's evil and creating all that's magnificent.
So who's for "Momentum within Reach".. and "Assignment within Reason"?
Everyone?
Good, then "Ezra" is the book for you.
Ezra is a man who starts out in captivity, living inside the framework of other people's rules but by putting one rather uneventful but properly assigned day against each other... he does some pretty amazing things over the course of his full life.
The verse that defines him is Ezra
7:10.. speaking of how the good hand of God was upon him because Ezra had devoted himself to three things; the "reading of the Word, the administrating of the Word.. and the teaching of the Word".
THIS.... is why Eccl
9:11 speaks to us the way it does. Life doesn't go to those who are faster than everyone else.. or smarter... Life goes to those who understand they live in an assignment from the Lord. Ezra had an assignment. God called him to the reading, keeping and teaching of the Word. He was faithful to that assignment... life happened.
Others during that same time period also lived faithful to their assignments; Daniel, Esther, Mordecai, Nehemiah... even men who didn't know God understood they were on assignment from Him.
Nebuchadnezzar was on assignment from God and all was well until he starting thinking he was on his own assignment. Before long he was loopy and living in the wilderness eating grass for a living. Once he humbled himself and acknowledged he was just a man walking in assignment from heaven, he was restored. Cyrus was on assignment... oh my, you're not going to believe to the degree he was.. You're going to hear all about it starting
this Sunday :)
But here is someone else who lives in assignment from God; you! Our Church has assignment, I have an assignment.. and you too are assigned of God. The extra good news is - this is an assignment within reason. It's probably not to solve world hunger or remove Isis from the planet.. it more likely has to do with something God has called you to be faithful to.
Your assignment will bring momentum within reach.
The steps God has for you this year are likely not the kind that lead to you quitting your job and going out on the speaking circuit. More probable the steps of God will be a) right in front of you b) easily within your ability to accomplish and c) measured not by what happens by
next Tuesday... but rather by the slow, unfolding grace of God that plays out in your life day in and out over the course of the full year.
This year rather than focus on being stronger and wiser than everyone else... focus on the one thing not too many people do; faithfulness.
Be faithful with the assignment God gave you - that's all. Don't get discouraged if you haven't set the world on fire by
January 31st. String together one properly assigned day after another .. and you will not be disappointed when you get to the end of the year.
Join me - and bring a friend with you to hear from Ezra the amazing power of humble, simple, properly assigned day by day faithful living.
Can't wait to dive into this with you
on Sunday!
Btw... This Tuesday is the start of the second season of PVYou. Yes this is our Ministry Training School and yes, this is for everyone! There is a PVYou booth in the lobby for you to learn more about this - and we invite you to join us each
Tuesday night for two classes 6p-7p and 7p-8p.. you will love whats happening at PVYou.
