COMING SHORT OF THE WILL OF GOD

Morning Meditation 11/7/2013

Verse 1 say, “ Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.”

Why do some people have such a struggle with finding the will of God and staying in it? I have run into Christians all of my Christian life who are sincere people but they get all wound up to serve the Lord and the next time you see them they are having a struggle with something as simple as attending church regularly. If you are that kind of person, I am not writing this meditation to criticize you. I am writing it to help you. I do know things can be different for you. But no one can apply the will of God to your life but you. I can’t trust him for you. I can’t obey the Lord for you. This you must do for yourself. But the starting place is to properly identify your problem in the Word of God. Then do what it says. So I’m going to mention some things in this meditation that hopefully will help you identify the problem.

There are two rests what are mentioned in Hebrews 3 and 4. First, we have the rest of salvation. Heb 4:2-3 says, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Here the writer is speaking of Israel in the wilderness. The gospel was preaching to them. He says plainly, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them. . .” The gospel has ever and always been the means of salvation to the lost. Then we have in this verse the failure of the gospel to save all that hear it. He says, “But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” It is not enough to hear the gospel. Faith must be mixed with the gospel or it has no saving effect. Then he says, “For we which have believed do enter into rest . . .” The word “enter” (eiserchomai) means to “enter or come into.” It is a present middle indicative verb. This means that the “rest” of which he speaks here is something to be experienced by the believer in the continuous present. It is not a future rest. It is a rest entered at the point of faith in the gospel message. That is the first kind of rest.

The next rest of which is spoken in this passage is described in verses 9-11: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

This is a rest that remaineth “for the people of God.” Salvation rest is there for the unsaved. When they enter that rest by faith they become the “people of God.” Using Israel of old in coming out in the Exodus, they had faith to get them out of Egypt but not enough faith to get them into Canaan. Canaan is a type of the life of victory in Christ. Most of the Jews that came out of Egypt never made it into the land. They viewed the land and tasted some of the fruit of the land. But they did not BELIEVE that the God that brought them out of Egypt was big enough to overcome the giants and give them victory in the land of promise. Therefore they died in the wilderness completely free from Egypt geographically but not free from Egypts influence psychologically.

When we leave Egypt and enter in with the people of God by faith in Jesus Christ we must leave the psychology of the world behind. We operate according to new principles all together. It is faith. Faith hears what God says and does it.

This is one of the first reasons many Christians fail. They try to bring the things they learned before salvation and apply them to the Christian life. You say, “They worked for me before I was saved, why won’t they work now?” Because the Lord has called you away from the philosophy of the world and has given you a new principle by which to walk. The reason you needed to be saved is because those things that you believed before were completely unacceptable to God. If you refuse the change from Egypt to Canaan then you may wind up dying out of Egypt (truly saved) but also out of Canaan (outside of the “rest” of the life of victory). You are stuck in between! That rest is available to you. It is a matter of choice. If you have not entered into God’s best for your life, it is not because it is not available to you, it is because you do not believe God. Unbelief is the reason given in this passage and it must be accepted as the continuing reason that God’s people continue to live outside what is typified in the Canaan rest.

Let me restate this first principle again. The reason some people have such a struggle with finding the will of God and serving him with the complete joy of the Lord is that they have not moved from the “sight” mode to the “faith” mode. 2 Cor. 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”

Another reason some people have a struggle in serving the Lord and never seem to be happy as Christians is because what they want to do for him as Christians is not the same as his will for them. Every life is a plan of God. He has something in mind for you. And if what you want for yourself is different from what he wants for you there will be a struggle. God will not bless your disobedience. I do not choose my path. He chooses it for me. Now if I have so surrendered to his will so that when I discover what he wants me to do that I say, “Thank you Lord. It will be a thrill for me to do this. If this is your will for my life, I accept it and will give myself fully to it.” That is victory. Have you done that? What if it is just being a godly mother and a house wife? This is the role God has given to most women. If you are not satisfied there, don’t expect God to bless you with peace. You are going to be in trouble constantly.

Another reason for the struggle in the Christian life is that many yield to the desires of the flesh and are pulled away from the will of God.. I have no doubt that there were Jews that died in the wilderness who could have easily lined up with Joshua and Caleb but they could not think for themselves. They allowed the rebels to influence and they voted with the crowd that day. The Lord does not want us going with the crowd. He wants us to respond positively to his word even when our closest friends are trying to influence us to go the way of the world. God wants us to believe him and act on that faith against all odds. Joshua and Caleb had learned that lesson.. They were happy men.

May the Lord bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White