THE GOD OF HOPE AND ENABLEMENT This morning I was reading through I Chronicles 29 and was blessed especially by a couple of truths which I’d like to share with you today and tomorrow. God is the God of this entire world and universe (John 3:16), but He is also the God of the individual. And it’s in our individual lives and experiences where we find that God is real to us, and caring, and encouraging. Many times we look at our own lives and get a sense of unworthiness, failure, frustration, insignificance, unusability, having few talents and little to offer, being nobodies. And, of course, in and of ourselves, this is perfectly true and understandable. But when God is in the picture and directing our lives, we gain a new sense about hope, life and everything else! I was struck by I Chronicles 29:1 which says: “Then King David said to the entire assembly, ‘My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God.’” First, notice the calling. David makes it clear that God had chosen Solomon alone, not only to be David’s successor as King of Israel but also to build the temple for Him. So just keep this in mind for a moment—God is the One who chose Solomon! Secondly, notice the contrast between the worker and the work. First, the worker, Solomon! David acknowledges that Solomon was still young. Youth has its advantages, but it also has its restrictions and limitations simply because youth is youth. David also acknowledges that Solomon was inexperienced. He hadn’t lived long enough to experience many of the important lessons in life—wisdom in making decisions, patience through trials, increased knowledge through the Word, financial responsibility, development of certain skills, discernment in relationships, management of people, etc. In other words, in and of himself, Solomon just wasn’t qualified to do much of anything, and certainly not anything of a great nature or responsibility! But here is where the contrast between the worker and the work is even more striking! Solomon, in his youthfulness and inexperience, whom alone God had chosen, is called to a gigantic task. “…and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God” (v. 1). Talk about a high, noble, and important calling! And yet God chooses this inexperienced young man to do a great work for Him! Listen, Solomon felt exactly like you and I feel at times when it comes to thinking that God could ever use us in any great way, especially in light of our insecurities, lack of ability, an inconsistent and spotty spirituality, and inexperience. Do you remember when a little later God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” What was Solomon’s reply? He said, “Now, O Lord God, give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can rule this great people of Thine?” (II Chronicles 1:7, 10). He needed God to supply what he felt he lacked for such a calling. And, of course, God’s calling is always His enabling! Always! But this ought to be so encouraging to our own hearts! The Lord loves to accomplish the extraordinary through the ordinary! He gives us hope as we look away from ourselves and our weaknesses and look at Him and His strength and power and wisdom. You see this throughout the Scriptures! So if God has chosen you to do something for Him, look away from yourself and look up to Him, for He specializes in making something out of nothing! “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chose, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, ‘Let Him who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (I Corinthians 1:26-31). MORE TOMORROW! STAY TUNED!
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:25:50 +0000
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