Introduction
My assignment today is to encourage you in the work of the Lord. Most of your know that I served as a pastor before teaching at the Seminary. Since then, I have had the opportunity to serve in nine churches as Interim Pastor. I know a little bit about what you face every day. Each of us could write a best seller about our experiences in the ministry. It would be a work filled with some humor. Later today I'm going to ask you to write out your funniest ministry story. I'm going to share some of mine with you. But our book would also be filled with stressful times, wouldn't it? Heartbreaking times. Times that have caused us to question our calling. Times when we wanted to quit.
I want to use this part of Caleb's life story to encourage you today.
If you didn't know this story, at first glance, it wouldn't seem too remarkable. But when you know the story behind the story, it is incredible, isn't it. It actually begins 45 years earlier when Moses was still alive and leading the people to the Promised Land. Twelve spies were sent out. Joshua and Caleb came back and said that with God's help they could take the land. But the others said that they saw giants, the descendants of Anak, the Anakim. The heart of the people melted and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, fast forward. Caleb is 85 years old. But he still remembers the promise of God that he would one day inherit the land. Caleb is not ready to quit.
Let me share 4 Things God Wants You To Know About the Rest of Your Life and Your Ministry.
I. God Has Big Plans for the Rest of Your Life and Your Ministry
CALEB believed this truth… God had promised the land…
Do You Remember When You Were First Called To Ministry? You may not have known exactly what God had in store but you knew that He had a plan.
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope."
Caleb knew that God had a plan for his life. Well, the Lord STILL has a plan for your life.
Do something for me and for yourself right now. Say in your heart, “God has big plans for my life.”
II. God is Not Going to Tell You What the Plans Are… (all at once)
How many of us have been tempted to pray this prayer, “God show me the rest of my life." How many of us have lived long enough to know that we don't want God to show us the rest of our life?
To realize God’s plan for our lives we must walk by faith and walk in faithfulness. What does the mean?
Several times in this passage Caleb says of himself and others say of him that he wholly followed the Lord his God. To realize the plan of God in our lives we have to walk by faith and walk in faithfulness.
Let's say that you're at church one night and all the lights go out. This, by the way, is a rather simple illustration. So just play along with me. All you have is a flashlight – Total darkness. You turn the flashlight on. There's only one problem. The light doesn't go all the way to where you're going. But if you walk to where the light stops a miracle takes place. More light. And if you go to where that light stops..... You get the idea.
That’s the way it is with God. We find His specific will by following His general will for our lives. How do we know that is true? It's in the Bible.
Proverbs 3:5, 6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
Walk by faith.
Then walk in faithfulness. Live the godly life of a dedicated child of God...
You've probably had days when you didn’t know which way to turn in your ministry. Maybe that's where you are today. Be faithful and walk in faithfulness.
God has big plans for your life. He's not going to tell you what they are all at once. You have to walk by faith and walk in faithfulness.
III. God Has Been Preparing You All Your Life for What He Wants You To Do Now
Caleb was the perfect one to lead the people into the Promised Land. He knew the challenges. He knew the land. More than that, he believed that God would give him the strength to win a victory. I think his courage gave the young men the courage they needed to fight.
All of the experiences of your life have molded you to be prepared for God’s plan. Some of you have faced great challenges and been through significant valleys.
When I was 15 my mother died. Some of you may have faced challenges like that. And I struggled with that for a few years. Why didn't God save my mother who was such a godly Christian woman?
When I became a pastor within a span of 2 months, our Chairman of Deacon’s wife died at the age of 40 and my Secretary's husband died at 41. Both had teenage children. I was able to minister to them in very significant ways because I had been there.
God has been preparing you all your life for what He wants you to do now.
I thought of David. He was the shepherd boy who became the hero and who then became the king. God was preparing him all along the way to do what was next in the plan.
Reflect on your own life and remember times when God has already shown you this truth. He sent someone to you at the right time and the right place and they were ready and they blessed your life. Perhaps it was another minister or someone in the pew. God met your need through them.
God wants to do that every day through you.
God has big plans for your life. He's not going to tell you what they are all at once. You have to walk by faith and walk in faithfulness. God has Been Preparing You All Your Life for What He Wants You To Do Now.
IV. If You Will Follow God's Plan, He Will Bless and Use You To Change the World
Caleb is now at the same place he was 45 years earlier. Caleb knows that it is not going to be easy but he is certain that with God’s help that they will prevail and enter the Land of Promise.
Let me tell you what I didn’t read for you. When they divided up the battles, Caleb chose the Anakim (Giants)…
I think you know the end of the story. The Giants are defeated and the people enter the land.
God’s plan may not be easy but it is always too early to quit. Just on the other side of quit there is a victory.
Galatians 6:9 – “Do not grow weary in well doing for in due season you shall reap if you do not faint (quit).”
God still wants to change the world through you. Remember this, He never said it would be easy. He said it would be worth it.
Ask the Apostle Paul. Paul was it worth it? Was it worth the ridicule? Was it worth being beaten? Was it worth dying for your faith? Paul's answer would be a resounding "YES!"
CONCLUSION
What are you going to do with the rest of your life? How are you going to be remembered? What will your life’s legacy be when you are gone?
Matthew West is one of the most popular Christian artists today. A few years ago, before anyone knew who he was, Matthew had to have surgery on his vocal chords. He could not speak a word for 3 months. The doctors made no guarantees that his voice would recover.
A song came out of that experience. The song is entitled, The Motions. Listen to the refrain.
"I don't wanna go through the motions. I don't wanna go one more day, without Your all consuming passion inside of me. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? More importantly, what does God want you to do with the rest of your life? You can’t answer that question tomorrow. You have to answer it today. Why? Tomorrow may not come. God may want to use you today to change someone’s life forever.
Let me take you to Heaven for just a moment as I close. One day in Heaven, before you can turn around, someone is going to come up behind you and give you the best hug you've ever had. When you turn you will not recognize the person and you will think that they have mistaken you for someone else. But then they'll tell you their story, how they were led to the Lord by someone you led to the Lord. Then they will say something like this. "Thank you so much for being so faithful at that little church. I'm in Heaven today because of God's grace and your faithfulness."
Look at me friend. God has big plans for your life. He's not going to tell you what they are all at once. To know the plan of God you have to walk by faith and walk in faithfulness. He's been preparing you all along the way for what He wants you to do now. And if you follow God's plan, He will bless you and use you to change the world.
If you trust Him today and get busy with His plan, if you don't quit, we will watch God do something incredible with your life. Make that commitment today and say, "I am going to wholly follow the Lord."
