THE ISSUE OF OUR IMPOTENCE

Often, we may feel that we preach without productivity. Despite attempting to be faithful, we do not find ourselves fruitful. The issue is not with God. Hear what Spurgeon said on this matter:

           “Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?” Cannot He prepare your heart and tongue? No, the Spirit of the Lord is not straitened. Still is that promise our delight “My grace is sufficient for thee.” It is a joy to become weak that we may say with the apostle, “When I am weak then am I strong.” Behold, the, strength of the Lord is gloriously revealed, revealed to perfection in our weakness. Come, ye feeble workers, ye fainting laborers, come and rejoice in the unstraitened Spirit. Come you that seem to plough the rock and till the sand, come and lay hold of this fact, that the Spirit of the Lord is omnipotent. No rock will remain unbroken when He wields the hammer, no metal will be unmelted when He is the fire. Still will our Lord put His Spirit within us and gird us with His power, according to His promise, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” 

           But some have said, “Yes, but then, see how few the conversions are nowadays! We have many places of worship badly attended; we have others where there are scarcely any conversions from the beginning of the year to the end of it.”  This is all granted, and granted with great regret; but “is the Spirit of the Lord straitened: are these His doings?” Cannot we find some other reason far more near the truth? If there are no conversions we cannot fall back upon the Spirit of God and blame Him. Has Christ been preached? Has faith been exercised? The preacher must take his share of blame; the church with which he is connected must also inquire whether there has been that measure of prayer for a blessing on the word that there ought to have been. Christians must begin to look into their own hearts to find the reason for defeat. If the work of God be hindered in our midst, may there not be some secret sin with us which hinders the operation of the Spirit of God? May He not be compelled by the very holiness of His character to refuse to work with an unholy or an unbelieving people? Have ye never read, “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief”? May not unbelief be turning a fruitful land into barrenness? The Spirit Himself is not straitened in His power; but our sin has made Him hide Himself from us. The want of conversions is not His doing: we have not gone forth in His strength. We shake off with detestation the least trace of a thought that should lay any blame to the Spirit of the Most High. Unto us be shame and confusion of face as at this day. (Spurgeon, Service and Honor, pp. 35-37, Kindle edition)

Preacher, let us humble ourselves before the Lord and cry out for His power to attend our ministry!  Church member, if your pastor’s preaching lacks potency, it does not help to talk to fellow Christian’s about him but talk to God about Him and seek the Lord’s anointing upon him. You may find a new preacher with a new power in the same body and with the same voice—now energized with Divine unction.

The issue of impotence is not God. The problem is with us—our prayerlessness, our self-sufficiency, our lack of holiness. The good news is that God now calls us to repentance and reliance on Him that will bring real results of eternal significance. We may have what Jim Cymbala titled his book, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire,” with Pentecostal power!

DRIVEN

 

How long will you slumber, O sluggard?

When will you rise from your sleep?  

A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep—

So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,

And your need like an armed man.  (Proverbs 6:9-11)

TODAY—that is all we have.  Yesterday has passed and so we call it the past, and there is no replay button.  Tomorrow has not arrived, and may never come, for there are no guarantees of tomorrow.  All I can assure you about tomorrow is that if it is to be a fruitful time to enjoy then it requires faithful toil be exerted today.  Today wears the overalls of opportunity.

We cannot keep hitting the snooze button in life, trying to stay in the warm covers of a dream world—fantasizing about what might be—later.  The only way to make dreams come true is to get up, get out, and get with it!  Laziness is a recipe for poverty.  While the sloth is sleeping, the thief of procrastination slips in and steals the precious commodity of time—never to be reclaimed.  We only have a certain amount, and when it is gone, it is gone forever.

A car can’t go anywhere until the engine is fired up and the transmission engaged.  It is meant for the highway as transportation, not sitting in the garage as decoration.  Now, the child of God knows that the Roadmap—the Bible— must be read before he or she can reach the right destination.  There must be fuel in the tank—and that comes through prayer—before we can go anywhere.  But, then we must go!  We are to be driven!  My life needs to be washed from sin, and polished to reflect the image of the Owner, but I dare not think of myself as just something to admire sitting in the driveway.  My life is to be a vehicle for God to move out into the world to get His work done—driven for His glory!

There will be some days when we go slow and don’t travel far—the road is rocky, there is an unexpected detour, we encounter sharp turns and steep inclines—yet, this is the road God has chosen for that part of our journey and so we don’t complain.  We just go as far as we can, as quickly as we can.  There will be days of speeding down the interstate of life—pedal to the metal—fast and far.  Always stay alert.  The rules of the road must be obeyed, we must keep an eye out for potholes, and know there are unexpected dangers lurking around the next bend of the road—that can be disastrous.  The Holy Spirit will guide us—He is our Divine GPS system—and will bring us safely to our destination if we heed him.

We have to go to get anywhere.  God has a purpose for you today—the only day you have.  Be driven!