He Must Be Enough . . .

I was just reflecting this morning on the irony we face, as Christians, if we share a feeling that God is warning us of something (I am not talking about a prophetic word where God says to specifically tell people something is going to happen). Think about how, if God gives us a dream, or a vision, or a sense, that something bad might be about to happen, and we are fairly strongly sure He gave it to us and we then take the natural course to warn others of the possibility and then to intercede in prayer (and prepare if we feel He is leading us to) . . .

Well, what if that is exactly what God was warning us for—giving us a possible future so that Christians would wake up, rise up in unity, confess their sins, turn from their selfish ways and surrender again to His Lordship, and intercede in prayer, using our precious privilege as His children to go before Him at His throne? So, then, because His children return to Him, He stays His hand and, to all whom we shared with, we look like fools because that which we warned about never happened.

It truly is the case, for each of us, that He must be enough because, all too often, in obedience to Him we cut ourselves off from the respect and praise of those who don't understand Him. It must be enough to us, no matter what we are called to be or do, that He says, "Well done My good and faithful servant." If anyone else's opinion of us ranks higher on our priority scale than His, we are done for because we will then serve man and not God, and it is the most unsafe place in the world for a Christian to be if we are out of His will.

James 5:16-18   Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.


2 Chron 7:13-15   When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

Jeremiah 29:7   But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.