Sunday, December 29, 2013

Same But Different

Same But Different
December 30, 2013
Malachi 3:6  "I, the LORD, do not change. . ."

The Lord works in ways we do not always understand.  It is impossible to predict what He is doing, what work He is intending, what work He is doing in our lives right now.  In an effort to understand Him in our present situations, we define Him according to how He appeared or interacted with us in our past.  We project onto Him our interpretations of what He did for us last year or last decade.  If the Lord allowed a tremendous blessing in our lives, then He will always allow a tremendous blessing in our lives.  If the Lord allowed us to experience loss, then clearly He will always allow us to experience loss.  If the Lord did not answer our prayer last time, then He will not honor it this time. Our thinking of Him is flawed, when and if we limit the Lord to the manner in which He acted in our past situations.

The truth of the matter is the Lord is not limited by your imagination or understanding.  And to try and predict the work the Lord is doing is only a feeble attempt at controlling Him.  The Lord has free reign to work in our lives as He pleases and it is not always the same.  Just because the Lord allowed you to experience loss last year does not mean He will allow the same this next time around.  You cannot box Him into past circumstances.  While the Lord is free to do what He wants, He also wants you to give Him free reign in your life to the point you and I are not fighting against the work He is currently doing.  It is easy to confuse His character with His works.  He character will never change, but His workings are always new.

The children of Israel tried to do this; they tried to box the Lord into thinking He would always deal with them the exact same same way as the set of circumstances before.  He rebuked them and said, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."  When the Lord said this, yes, it was to a specific people at a specific time, but the verbiage He used was to project it was a constant state of occurrence.  It was meant for that time and for the rest of the time.  The Lord doesn't just do a "new thing" one time.  It is a constant state of His character.

The Lord is the same; He does not change.  His heart is the same; it does not change.  His actions, however, are unique for every person and every new set of circumstances, based upon all the variables only He can comprehend.  The Lord is always moving forward.  While His laws for mankind are the same; He is still free to do a new work in your life and mine.

If we allow the Lord to truly be lord of our lives, then we are also giving Him free reign to do a new work.  Do not let the Lord's workings in the past paralyze you from fear of Him working that same way for your future.  It might be different this time.  He may have been shaping your character or growing your faith.  Maybe He was cleaning house.  You cannot predict the work of the Lord and I have grown to understand He works in ways I could never imagine. The more you and I try to understand what He wants to do, the more we put limits on what we will allow Him to do in our lives.  Free reign means free reign; so give it to Him.  Let Him be the same God but working differently as He sees fit.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ps 77, Is 49, Hebrews 13:8

No comments: