The Impartial Master
Doing God’s Work Everyday
Your vocation is a ministry in itself.
Source of Promotion
Lord God, who is your true north (your internal compass), will lift you up in the appointed time. Keep working for His glory.
Kairos – Seize your opportunity
“But when the time had fully come God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Galatians 4:4
If you have ever organized or coordinated a nativity play you know what I am talking about. I worked as a Sunday school teacher for nearly 4 years and we used to put nativity play every year with small kids. I am telling you it’s not one of the easiest job in the world. It is very frustrating at times because we cannot have all the kids playing their part in correct timing. When its “Joseph’s” turn to enter the stage he will be crying and sitting in mamas lap. When its shepherds’ scene, two shepherds will be fighting and one would have gone for a “wee” break. The wise men will be arguing over their gifts. And you will lose your energy shouting “Joseph… its your turn now”, “Shepherds… its your turn”…
But look at Anna in the bible:
“There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Underline the words “coming up to them at that very moment”. One translation put it this way: “She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God.”
It’s almost like God is orchestrating a grand nativity scene here. Timing is everything. Anna had to be present in the right place at the right time to do her part. God planned his characters for the birth of his Son in a grand way. Anna and Simeon’s role are very crucial in the birth of Jesus.
Deuteronomy 19:15 says “By the mouth of two or three the matter shall be established”.
Once Jesus said to the Pharisees “In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
Therefore, the testimonies of two or three are very important to confirm the birth of Messiah. And Simeon and Anna were chosen as the two witnesses. Anna had to be there in the temple when Mary and Joseph were there. She had to be there when Simeon was there.
The bible says “Coming up to them at that very moment…while Simeon was talking..”, Anna entered the grand stage of God’s nativity and played her part.
Isn’t that great? She was in tune with God and she fulfilled her role in an impeccable way. She was not in a huff with God. She didn’t wake up in the wrong side of the bed. She didn’t frustrate God by her tantrums. She was not late to church that day. She didn’t take her phone and informed her pastor “I am not feeling great today, I am feeling depressed because nothing interesting is happening in my life. So I won’t be coming to the temple”. If she had done that she would have missed playing her part in God’s nativity!
TIMING IS EVERYTHING IN GOD’S KINGDOM! Christmas is all about God’s timing.
Galatians 4:4 says
“But when the time had fully come God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
In the Greek language there were two words for time: one is “Kronos” from which we get chronology and other is “Kairos” which means “opportune time” – you seize an opportunity that comes your way.
Kairos – You seize an opportunity that comes your way.
Anna must not have had a clue that she was part of this grand play. She had a bad past as her husband died when she was very young. But she didn’t get stuck to her painful past. She could have easily blamed God and lived in bitterness. She could have played a pity party all her life. She had reasons to get depressed. But she moved forward to be part of this God’s grand nativity play. Imagine if Anna had not moved forward from that past she would have been mourning and complaining to God. She would have been at home depressed. She would have been thinking over the death of her husband again and again and asked God “WHY”? And probably when Simeon was in temple Anna would have missed her part in God’s nativity play!
Anna moved forward to be present at the right time to see God’s miracle!!! You need to be in the right place and at the right time to see God’s miracle. For that, you need to be in tune with God. For that you need to move forward.
Jesus arrived late to the home of Mary and Martha and by that time Lazarus was already in the tomb. Mary struggled to move forward and she lived in the “past”. She didn’t even realize that Jesus has arrived and is in the “present”. She said “If you had been here this tragedy would not have happened”.
How many of you are crying to God like this? How many of you are struggling to move forward like Mary? But Jesus replied, “If you believe you will see the glory of God.” Jesus must have reminded Mary that He is the God of NOW and FUTURE and we should not dwell in the PAST.
You might have had a bad past like Anna. May be a bad marriage, a divorce. May be a bad experience in workplace. May be a loss of loved one. But God is saying “Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. I am doing something new in your present. Can’t you see it?”
Therefore be faithful to God even in tough times like Anna. Anna was praying, worshipping God even amidst tough times. Just play your part daily and do it cheerfully. Be in tune with God. Trust God’s timing and be part of God’s timing. Stop regretting your past and move forward to be part of Gods timing. Just like Anna one day you will see God’s miracle at the right time.
Kairos!!! Seize an opportunity that comes your way…
This message is written by Bro. Davidson Samuel who is an IT Professional / Subject Matter Expert in Banking domain, based out of Scotland, UK.
The Grasshopper Syndrome
One of the great challenges in our life is to see things in God’s perspective and stop seeing it from our view. Each one of us has that challenge to visualize our life in line with God. And our decisions depends on how we focus on it and many times the decisions are crossroads. We need to get hold of our decisions seriously as we cannot reverse what we have taken.
Let us look into the story of Israelites. They were brought out of the land of Egypt by God and they witnessed how God has been miraculously leading them to the Promise Land. And when they finally arrived at the border of the land, they faced a big challenge blocking their way into the Promised Land. What was that? We will learn from the story of the Israelites and how are we facing the same today!
Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Geul, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Suthur, Nahbi….. Have you ever heard these names before? Does it sound familiar to you? No! Have you heard of Joshua and Caleb? Now you might relate to the people I am referring to. Those were the names of the ten spies who got into the Canaan to spy the land. They came back with the negative report scaring the Children of Israel and influencing them to disobey God’s instruction to enter into Canaan and possess the land. Only Joshua and Caleb came up with the positive report. God has already given the land of Canaan to the children of Israel. God has promised them and the only thing the people of Israel has to do is, go into the land and possess it. They have to just claim the land which was already provided by the Lord.
Read Numbers 13:27 – 28:
Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified andvery large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The ten spies first acknowledged that what God was about to give us is indeed a land of milk and honey. And their report followed a ‘but’ clause. But we cannot claim it as the people living in it were giants…
In verse 33, the spies say, “we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” God knows already that these people living in Canaan were giants. He didn’t ask for the report. The problem is, they focussed on themselves instead of focussing on the promises of God. They have seen the plagues in Egypt. They have seen the Lord bringing them out of Egypt. They have seen the Lord parting the red sea for them. They have seen God providing them food in the desert. But still…
And we too sometimes, fall into the same category. We have seen God leading us miraculously in our life. But nevertheless, when we face a problem we get discouraged seeing the giants before us and forgetting the God who is greater than others. We sometimes get the ‘Grasshopper syndrome’ and we stop from proceeding further. Have you ever been felt this way? Are there areas of your life where you have not yet lived by faith because you fear what seems difficult or impossible by your own abilities or resources?
In this incident, there were two persons who gave a positive report as they had faith in God.
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30)
Caleb and Joshua focussed on the words of God and had a desire to obey it and their confidence was in doing the God’s will. (Numbers 14:8-9)
There were two reports from the 12 spies and sadly, the Israelites murmured against God heeding their ear to the 10 spies who gave a pessimistic report.
This is what the grasshopper syndrome does. Many times, I have failed to carry out the task given by the God only because of the fear to face the challenge. When God gives us a task to do, He has already prepared us for that task. But, unfortunately, we behave like the Israelites seeing the giants before us.
Now, these are the symptoms of the ‘Grasshopper Syndrome’:
1. Doubted heart:
In spite of the God’s promised words to the Israelites, they always had a doubt in their heart always looking the positive as negative. They had witnessed God’s doing in their physical eyes. They have been overshadowed by the cloud by day and warmed by the pillar of fire at night. Besides seeing these things, they have a doubted heart. When things do not come out the way we hoped for, we start doubting and we lose our trust in God.
Hebrews 3:12(NIV)
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
2. Double minded:
If you have noticed the Grasshoppers, they keep on hopping from one place to place rather than sitting in one place. And the same does our mind. It keeps wandering from place to place without being steady. Hence, it is easier for the devil to attack our mind if it is not kept steady. When this syndrome affects us, we just can’t focus on the promises of God. Though we see the things that God has done in our life, the next minute, fear fills our mind thinking about our future and the failures in the past. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was filled with happiness as God has promised us with so many things about her. At times, I would be happy and suddenly, a fear would fill my mind thinking about the stillborn child in the previous pregnancy. That’s how the devil plays with our mind trying to make us believe that, God’s promised would fail which is a total lie. The Grasshopper syndrome causes us to doubt God’s word and His faithfulness. Instead of acting like children of the king, we live as if we were paupers unable to fulfill God’s will. We lack faith, are double minded and unaware of who we really are in Christ.
James 1:6-8
but let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let, not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
3. Inferiority Complex:
See what the ten spies said. They reported that “we look like grasshoppers”. And that’s what the Satan does. He tries to convince us that we are unworthy and make us believe that he is stronger than us. I remember the day when I started writing for God. The first thing that Satan tried to implant in my mind was, “my writings are not good and I am unfit to write”. If I have heard those voices in my mind, I would have stopped writing and penning it down what God wants me to. This syndrome will always make us feel inferior to others and try to destroy our self-image in God.
So, what should we do if we are affected by this syndrome?
First thing is we need to heed our ears to the positive reports from God as Joshua and Caleb did. Remember that they are the only two people from their generation to enter into the promise land.
The second thing is we need to remember that the battle starts from our mind. The areas of our thoughts are the main battleground. That’s why Paul asks us to renew our mind in God (Romans 12:2)
Thirdly, remember that God has already provided us the weapons to win on the battlefield. We need to just use our weapons to fight against the enemy instead of looking them as giants and staying out of the Promised Land. So, what are these weapons? It is none other than the Word of God. Paul says about the armor of God in Ephesians. We are instructed to ‘Take the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.’ (Ephesians 6:17)
We know the outcome of the disobedience of Israel. Instead of entering into the Promised Land, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. In our life as well, when we are reluctant and fail to battle the giants we face, we end up in wandering in the spiritual wilderness. The Israelites, by running away from the giants, didn’t escape from them. Once the generation of disobedience died, they came and stood at the same point to face the same giants to enter into the Promised Land. So friends, instead of running away from the giants we are facing, stay strong and face them and they are not greater than the One who is living in us. Yes, we cannot win the battle alone. But when the Captain of our ship is our God, we are on the victory side.
Friends, I don’t know what giants you are facing in your life today. It might be fear, depression, discouragement, loneliness, bitterness, weakness, health issues, and financial problems. Whatever it is, remember, it is not bigger than our God. He is Greater than everything. When you are on God’s side, you can determine who the grasshopper is! Only thing is “The CHOICE is YOURS”. It is time for us to stand up and confront the giants and win the battle. God bless!
(This article was written by Carol Yasin and is reposted here with permission)