I’ve been doing quite a lot of thinking…

I suppose we all do… 🙂

Anyway, I’ve been doing quite a lot of thinking…

I like winning…

Paul did too… 🙂

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14 NASB)

I suppose all these thoughts subconsciously “came together” the other night when I was waiting in line at our shopping mall for my youngest daughter to buy a present for her friend…

In fact it was actually the Lord – so I suppose I really didn’t do any great thinking of my own after all… 🙂

Anyway…

As I stood there waiting I suddenly realized that to win all I had to do was find something that no one could compete with me in (if you have a sense of humour hopefully you’re laughing right now)… 🙂

If I wanted to do something and make something happen for myself, i.e. go out there and “make something happen”, then I’d always have opposition – I’ve seen so many times in my family that when I want “the last remaining food in the house” – even if I’ve been without food all day or whatever – as soon as I get it out of the cupboard – usually my youngest son will be “all over it” – even if I make it for myself he will ask for it – and it just seems that the Lord is “resisting” me – even if it seems that I have “a right”…

So I’ve realized or did that night – that the only way to win is to “come underneath” others – in every single way – and have no rights of my own and make my satisfaction or my goal to fulfil others purposes on this planet – not my own…

So I realised that God’s will for my life is to serve others purposes and fulfilment…

God has given others things which He wants them to accomplish – a call on their lives – and I am to “come underneath” – I already knew this in prayer – but didn’t realise that it needed to replace my own call and purpose – to “make it happen” for them…

Then there is no opposition…

For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:20-21 NASB)

Even in the Lord we all – most of us – seek after our own interests, i.e. “what’s God’s will for my life? what’s going to make me feel ‘all good’ inside?” – and I think this is normal as we grow in the Lord – we are excited that He has a ‘special plan’ ‘individually wrapped’ (which is true – don’t get me wrong) for our lives – and we focus on this and we are quite ‘self absorbed’ – and yet there is more (maturity begins to come as we see that there is more)…

Selfishness always leads to control and blocked selfishness always leads to anger – I’ve seen this in my little ‘role plays’ with my son over “the last remaining food in the house” (even when I’m hungry and he’s not – or doesn’t appear to be to me – maybe he was after all)… 🙂

When we come to that place – in joy – as the Lord gave me the other night – where we see that to serve and “come underneath” others in our family – in our immediate sphere of influence and support them – even if it’s not recognised – even if it’s not welcomed – even if it’s not acknowledged – but to do it anyway – this is serving the Lord – and there is no selfishness opposing it – no one is opposing it – and we are happy because we’ve “let go” of any other “call” on our lives other than to fulfil theirs…

Yes, the Lord can tell us to do things – that’s different – when He calls us to “get up” and “get out there” and do something we do that because He’s commanded/instructed – but while we’re waiting – as I have been – I can serve my family – my immediate family and like Jesus who loved us and laid His life down for us while we were still enemies – even if my family act like “enemies” at times I am to continue to show them Christ – to serve them – to be available to pray with them when they want to pray – to pray for them when they want me to pray for them – to help them practically when the Lord gives me a peace to do this – and to serve them and their vision in whatever way possible…

It’s hard – in fact its impossible – in families when the Lord has given you a vision and hasn’t given it to the rest of your family – to “make that vision happen”…

When He’s specifically told you not to share that vision with your family but to “hold on to it” and just to “be there” to agree with them in their prayers as He releases portions of that vision to them – it is the death of control – you want to “blurt it all out” but can’t…

It’s hard – but the Lord is with us and greater than that vision being known to them is that they see that we care about them and their vision – their wellbeing – for this reflects the Lord to them…

When we “let go” of “looking after” ourselves we start to see the Lord “coming through” to look after us – I had an experience of this the other night and it was quite powerful in the area of healing…

I’d been to Fiji – late October/early November – on a work conference and got some coral stuck in the bottom of my right foot which over time turned “toxic”…

I had one small operation to remove one piece and then another part nearby on my foot went “toxic” – I had a red line starting to “run” up my leg, etc, I had this both times…

The Lord had told me that He would heal me – and yet I still went to the doctor’s etc, and got antibiotics – He didn’t tell me not to so I went with my faith level (or lack of it)…

Anyway, we ran out of money a week before being paid just at the time when it came back and the antibiotics were giving me eczema so late one night knowing I wouldn’t be able to continue taking the pills as we didn’t really have any food I wanted to eat in the house or even any clean water (as I don’t drink Christchurch water after the earthquakes any more) in the house I lay awake there with the Lord and had one of those “deaths” – it was like – “oh well, what have I got to lose” and then He said to me never to take pills again and that again, He had healed me…

He’d told me He’d healed me as the first one was “blowing up” and now there was a second and this one could have been quite serious – but I believed Him and He worked faith in my heart as I submitted to Him – “by His stripes I was healed” – to be able to resist the devil and tell him to be gone…

Which I did without feeling like I had to “overextend” myself or go into “hype” or some other thing which never works…

Anyway, sure enough the foot started to heal – no antibiotics – He told me to soak it in salt water the next evening (I think it was) – then a whole lot of eczema like puss dripped out for a couple of days – and as of today – my wounds are pretty much healed up on the arch of my foot…

Praise the Lord…

He showed me that I “overstretched” myself in praying against some demonic stuff over in Fiji which is why that had “latched” onto my foot and it wasn’t healing – I let that go…

Anyway, all that to say – that as I let go of my “hopeless” situation and trusted Him – He came through…

My wife and I prayed about our “moneyless” situation also and the Lord gave us some money – unsolicited – through my parents and then the next day my Mum even randomly dropped in some food to me at work – Praise the Lord…

I was quite impressed… 🙂

Let go and the Lord starts “coming through”…

Thank You Jesus… 🙂