Something the Lord once spoke to me came to mind today. “A voice of maturity” – I remember the day the Lord taught me about this.
We have all been there, at least I know I have. We are believing God for something and become frustrated in the wait. We have stood and stood, and it seems one bad thing is happening after another. We appear to be getting farther from the promise instead of closer to breakthrough.
We begin to ask, “When God when? When will we see breakthrough?”
Recently, I found myself on the phone with someone who was asking, “When is it going to get better?”
I knew their turmoil. I have been there. I have asked that question many times. Yet, as I sought God for a divine answer, He quietly began to teach me. In the teaching, He corrected me.
He took me back to our first family trip to the beach.
It would be a short trip to me, seven and a half hours. However, I knew it wouldn’t be a short trip for a feisty seven-year-old. I also knew, even though Bryson was older, his excitement would make it hard for him to sit still that long. For these reasons, I had diligently prayed for patience during this trip.
The first six hours were wonderful. They quietly played and talked. It was quite pleasant. It was peaceful. The last hour and a half were not. They were constantly asking, “How much longer? When will we be at the beach? Are we there yet?”
This morning as God took me back to that time, He showed me something. He showed me that the adults never once asked, “Are we there yet?”
We knew the trip would be long. But we also knew we would arrive. He referred to us (the adults) as the voices of maturity.
Oh, that we could all have a voice of maturity when we are standing in faith for breakthrough!
I am often reminded of something Kenneth E. Hagin said concerning standing for a promise. He said, “When you make up your mind to stand UNTIL…you won’t have to stand long.”
Many of you reading this may think, “You don’t know how long I have been standing in faith.”
Perhaps that is true. Perhaps another year began without you seeing your promise manifested. But are you determined to stand…until. And not only stand until but stand in firm faith. Letting nothing come out of your mouth that is not in line with God’s plan. Or let nothing get in your heart or thoughts that contradicts the promise of God. What does your stand look like?
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things. (Deut 28:47)
I recently heard a minister talk about this scripture. He said the Lord told him he had lack because he had failed to serve God with a joyful, gladness of heart.
As I heard that message, I had to look at my own heart.
Most day I serve God with joyful gladness. However, I must admit, when I am standing in faith for something and it seems farther away each day, I am not always joyful. I do not always serve God with a joyful, glad heart. Especially during hard times.
God is good. All the time. We say we walk by faith. We say we trust Him. If that is true, why do we question Him when things take longer than we think they should. Can we not joyfully trust Him in the process?
I think if we are fully persuaded, we do. Just like our trip to Florida. We were fully persuaded that we would arrive at the beach after several hours. There was no question about it. Therefore, we didn’t ask when we would arrive. We had full confidence in our arrival.
James 1:4-8 says, But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
A double minded man will receive nothing from the Lord. It is vital we are not double minded…in our stand, in our thoughts and in our words.
1 Corinthians 14:20 tells us to be mature in our thinking…to not be infants in our thinking. How do we do that? How do we become voices of maturity?
By transforming our minds with the word of God. By staying in the word of God until we have the mind of Christ. Until we think like God does. All the time. In every situation. No matter how long it takes.
We must mature in our thinking. We must mature in the words that come out of our mouth. We must mature in our faith…become fully persuaded that God will do what He said He would do. Mature, until we are consistent voices of maturity.
Col. 2:6-7 says, As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with gladness.
We are, my friends, to walk in Christ, with gladness. With patience. With joy. With full persuasion. Then, and only then, will we speak with continual voices of maturity. May we become those voices this year, in Jesus name.
