All Things Working Together…
February 4th, 2008 | Michael Q. Pink
If we make a mistake by doing something that we believe is God’s will but isn’t… Will time stop? Will the earth melt? Will God have a hernia? Do you allow your children to make mistakes? Do they not learn from them? Have you not learned as much or more from your mistakes than you did from things you were correct on?
I see far too much paralysis, uncertainty, hesitancy in the body of Christ out of a genuine desire to do the Father’s will. But the heathen, unaffected by any desire to do God’s will, forge ahead and take territory — territory that God wants His footprint on… territory that God wants to expand His kingdom, His influence, His presence, His control upon.
I earnestly sought God’s will about a trip to Guatemala many years ago. I told God that it didn’t matter to me whether it was Guatemala or Greenland. I was going because I thought it was a good business opportunity. He responded… “I want to bless you, son.” I took that as the divine “okeedokee” and off we went, whereupon we quickly and painfully lost tens of thousands of dollars.
When we got home I asked God about that. He directed me to Joshua 6 and the story of Israel’s defeat by the town of Ai and the sin of covetousness that predicated that defeat. He then told me He did want to bless me, but first He had to deal with covetousness in my own heart. My mistake — though painful — caused perhaps the greatest leap in my faith and walk with God to date. God used that mistake to help me take much territory for His kingdom since that time. So step out. Don’t be so afraid of making a mistake. It won’t be the end of the world, even if it feels like it at the time.
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February 4th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Oh how relevant today’s post is! My experience, on the surface anyhow, is a carbon copy. I was seeking God’s approval in a similar vein and thought at least my motives were pure and purposeful. But, God has since shown me, through His word, how to better evaluate Godly motive.
Now, I filter my efforts and desires through His purposes as shown in His unvbeatable Word of truth. No questions need be asked anymore. (Almost that is).
Thanks for the effort you put in on a daily basis to remind, instruct and inspire all of us.
Bob Park
February 4th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I heard the tone, indicating that I just received an email, as I was preparing to make a call on a huge opportunity. The number was already dialed, but I had not yet pushed the “send” button. Earlier this morning I was in prayer, asking for God to reveal His will on this matter in my life.
Yeah, maybe it was pure coincidence, but it surely was ironic at the least, to receive the positive reinforcement of what I was about to do.
You’re absolutely right! If we, as believers, don’t move forward, then others will. We need to ask, seek and knock…then move in some direction. If we fail to act, we’ll miss out on either the blessings or the lesson.
Here’s to a great week! (www.apobetic.com)
February 4th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I am in a similar dilemma; I am currently running my business part-time - it is distributing nutritional products on multi-level marketing basis. My dilemma is I am wanting to take a higher paid job and not sure whether to do so or not. I recently (2 weeks ) ago heard the Lord clearly saying “I will bless the works of your hands”. I am puzzled about whether this includes full time employment. I am a lawyer(attorney) in England. I don’t know what to do????
February 4th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Wow, do I feel pierced by this post. I have felt for some time that my motives in business were ones of greed and covetousness. It’s like sometimes that I know no other way. Am I just using my faith (God) to get what I want? That is what I feel like much of the time. I don’t want it to be this way and am still struggling with how to balance faith and ambition. All while striving for a pure heart that seeks to serve.
Unfortunately, I feel like I am making progress at a snails pace. If anyone has conquered this please let me know how because I find it so easy to default to my lower self.
Thanks to Michael for your inspired messages!
Matt
February 4th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Man did I need this Word this morning!!! I have made a $300,000 mistake which is a small thing compared to missing God, hurting people, and paralyzing myself and my family in moving forward for the Kingdom… PAINFUL? The worse kind. Knowing that somehow you trusted yourself to be in God’s will and find out it was your own pride and covetousness…
I am so upside down right now in this mess. I have ‘rended my heart’ as Joel says… and now, I’m waiting for grace to catch up to me, and mercy, and goodness… isn’t that what King David said was following us!!?? I know God ‘orders’ steps and ‘redeems’ steps. I want to be in the ‘ordered’ steps crowd more than the ‘redeemed’ steps crowd! How about you?
February 4th, 2008 at 10:41 am
This is almost natural law. I saw two illustrations of it recently. Winston Churchill: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” (You might be close to an exit.)
Last week on the TV show House, a daughter was on a climbing wall, and her mother was doing the belaying rope, encouraging her. The mother said she should keep going because just hanging there thinking too much about the perfect next hand- or foot-hold was tiring her out more than it was worth.
Psalm 104:3-5, The Message
He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.
The NIV says “who redeems your life from the pit ” in verse 4.
2 Samuel 23:20-21, Amplified
20 And Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many notable acts, slew two lionlike men of Moab. He went down also and slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
21 And he slew an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew the man with his own spear.
Am I supposed to be in this pit, or out of it? Until that answer comes, keep praying, believing, moving.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:10 am
This post hit home for me. Last year about this time, I almost died. I went into a coma on Feb. 15, 2007 and woke up March 4th. It was diagnosed as BBE (Inflammation of the brainstem). I was oversees at the time and about to travel back to the US. I did not have health insurance to cover the expenses, and I was wiped out financially and in debt.
Looking back, I see how God was molding my desires and exposing the idol in my life: money. Being in the hospital and fighting to get rehabilitated, money didn’t matter…at all. Only love and life. I was hoping to die so I could be with the Lord, but I wanted to spend more time with my wife and daughter. So, I fought and prayed to life, even if it meant I’d be in a wheelchair, or mute, or legally blind. I only wanted to build a few more memories with my loved ones.
But God allowed me to fully recover, to the amazement of the hospital staff. Christians around the world who prayed for me witnessed the power of God. And God has shown me the true meaning of Life: to live, love, and to serve Him. Also, I learned how meaningless earthly things and money are. Though, I’ll be working to pay off my debts from the hospital and my mistakes for several years, I’m grateful to be able to live and to love and to do God’s work on earth. Because God’s work is eternal.
To see more about how God worked his miracle in my life, visit my wife’s blog at
http://engraciale.blogspot.com/2007/05/greatest-project-of-them-all.html
February 4th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Is anyone else confused by the contradiction in this little encouraging word? We are being told to move forward, then given Ai as an example. To me it reads “don’t be afraid to move forward but beware if you move ahead of God!” So the whole message plays against itself by telling us not to hesitate but if we don’t hesistate we might be in for some big trouble.
So, the author’s point is move ahead, don’t be afraid of making a mistake, God can use the loss of tens of thousand of dollars to give you “the greatest leap in my faith and walk with God to date.” Whew, that’s an expensive leap!
BTW “God used that mistake to help me take much territory for His kingdom since that time. ” Was it tens of thousands of dollars” worth of territory? Just wondering.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:37 am
am really moved by this message becaused it has helped me to deal with the snag i face trying to figure out the will of God on a matter. ive learnt to make plans commit it unto God and forge ahead
February 4th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I find the Bible sometimes seem contradicting itself too, but it isn’t. As I read this post I sense it is in response to someone’s post the last time about when we step out and fail, when we KNOW we were directed in the way we chose. Since I spent most of yesterday reading “Rich Church, Poor Church,” by John Muratori I can understand the point here. If the Jewish people had given up at failures we would not be viewing a tiny nation surviving in the midst of terror! In the first paragraph above Romans 8:28 popped right into my mind. “HE works ALL things for good, for those who LOVE HIM and are called according to HIS purpose.” We just need to be on HIS purpose! The safety net to fail is right in this passage! It is okay, HE is still with us.
Years ago during my husband’s midlife crisis this is the promise that held me afloat at a time when I really wanted to give up. It was devistating to me, yet I KNEW GOD was NOT unhappy with me. In fact, I felt HIS comfort in a way I never had before. So, it was an oxymoron time for me. It was horridly painful, yet it was blissfully abundant in HIS care for me at this time. We must keep walking, keep looking for HIS will and sometimes be searching for the vehicle HE has for us. As for me and my house…….we will seek HIM, no matter how many times I trip and fall. After all, for those of us who know HIM, we KNOW there is no other “show” in town! Blessngs!
February 4th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Interestingly after posting the above I read my “Prime Time with GOD” by Os Hillman’s ministry. It was another explanation to the “pain” of our trials in this life.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Thank you for this message. I don’t recall ever asking for your S.A.Wolves but am so glad it comes. Keep it coming. My life has gone down hill physically and mentally for the past couple of years and I guess at 71 that is not bad. In fact, I notice that as I have diminished there is a better chance that He will get the glory for anything I do and that is a prayer anwered. Through demotions and lack of capability on my part I am being siffted because He is faithful. There’s a payday coming for the faithful but mostly because He IS Faithful. He can’t deny Himself. PTL! Frank.
February 4th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Thank you for some of my greatest lessons have been learned from my mistakes and God is using all for His glory!
February 4th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
It’s all part of the journey. I don’t know of any Christians in business who are out there doing their best for the kingdom who have not gone through this process of sifting of motives. We were farming, but with floods and crop failure two years in a row, then a huge drop in lamb and beef prices, we accumulated huge debt and had to give up. We did up rental properties but got bad tenants who wouldn’t pay. My husband was excited to start trading options but it was a roller coaster ride, and we didn’t gain anything. What does it take to get us on our knees seeking his face and turning to Jesus for ALL our needs and wisdom? I think God has to hit the pocket so the brain will register that something is out of order! In all these seeming failures, we ate, paid the bills, and went on several trips overseas, because God gave us the money from unexpected sources. For us that was the lesson - in the midst of the financial turmoil, He is able to supply out of His abundance. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
February 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Thanks for your encouragement!! How many times might God bless us even more than we can imagine but we hold back waiting for the “perfect” time!
February 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Yes Michael! you hit it on the head again,life is filled with many lessons,after losing my dad and becoming a street wise kid in the suburbs of Manhattan you end up going down many roads all leading to thinking your in the right direction,when you find yourself going down a road that leads you to the Lord we as christians think well I have it all together now,only to find out It’s a new beginning with God.The prosess just begins and the molding and making us in his image is at times a painfull one,with all the emotions,financial problems,regection,etc……I found that beeting my self up with that mindset is truly from the enemy who wants to drive us down,suppress us,and wants to keep hammering ,”we will never mount to anything….”.But the one whom I serve the one who created me is greater in me than he than is in the world! After 17yrs I finally got It! And the book Rich Church Poor Church I recieved has been such a blessing the timing of God so RIGHT ON!God Bless you Michael and this ministry……Frank Russo, Sarasota,Fl.
February 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I too, am thankful for this word. My husband of 13 years tells me it is over, and is filing for divorce, even though I have no job at the moment! At a job interview today, they asked me what my biggest mistake was!! hah!! I replied that I don’t look at them as mistakes, cause I always am learning from them. I have found that the “stuff” really doesn’t matter, it is the “relationship” with God and others that really count. Yes, God does want us to prosper, and takes joy in the prosperity of His servant, but He doesn’t want the prosperity to “own” us. However, today when I prayed to God about my “paralysis” about stepping out to apply for a job in NYC, this spoke volumes to me about God’s answer. I will be stepping out to apply for this job!! A word to Matt…ambition is not a dirty word, unless you are using it to hurt people along the way to getting what YOU want. I would ask you how much is enough for you to live comfortably yet still provide and give to God and others?? What are the motives behind your “ambition”?? Only you can answer those questions, and what I do is give over the things in my life to God, and let Him have them, and make them into what HE wants for my life. Just keep on trucking, my friend, because confusion is not from God, it is from the enemy, so get into the Word and find your answers there, they really are there for any situation…what a timeless treasure the bible is. God Bless You all…bea
February 5th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Bea - What an inspiration you are! God Bless!
February 5th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
thank you Lorisa, that sure brightened my day!! God Bless you also…bea
February 5th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Thansk for sharing your story. I don’t know what my two cents is worth, but here it is anyway.
My wife encouraged me to read this one. I am being faced with a new business venture that is a complete career change - though not difficult, as I have yet to see the results of my present career.
Herein lies the problem: in our western world, and probably the world over, we look to whatever we deem is the desired result - usually OUR desired result. When walking with God, it is ALWAYS about the relationship. He wants to show us things about ourselves. What is it you believe about yourself, or about the people in your life? Then, stop for a minute and ask Father, “Who do you say I am?” and “What do you think about that situation?” You may find, like the author, that He says, “I want to bless you, but to do so I need to show you that isn’t what I have in mind for you. In fact I have so much more for you.”
Honestly, at the end of the day, I’m like any other person: I want the financial stuff to be easy - to go away really. Frankly, I want to know that my family won’t be cold anymore becuase we can’t afford fuel oil; or that we can go on a nice vacation whenever we want; or finish the renovation of our 70 year old bathroom and kitchen. But alas, we’re more fotunate than some and less than others. And all these less than perfect things make us appreciate the perfect things all the more. If we have not Christ we have nothing anyway.
Here’s a neat little gem to add to your thoughts on this, and hopefully some furhter encouragement:
http://jerusalemperspective.com/Books/newlight.pdf
Read chapter 11, in light of this post! I read one right after the other and was blown away. (BTW, all credit goes to my wife for finding this and encouraging me to read it too.)
My prayers are with you Bea - and Tim - and others.
Thanks Micahel for your post.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:47 am
wow, this blogging stuff is neat!! maybe I am not supposed to write back so much, but it is really cool how everyone brings something a little bit more and different to the mix.
As I pack up my belongings I find myself thinking, this stuff just really doesn’t matter very much, and if it weren’t for leaving it for someone else to pack up, I would just take a few things and go. I have come a long way in the last 2 years, and I know that God is showing me that, duh, bea, the stuff can’t have a relationship with you!!
I think we all want the financial to be easy, so we can concentrate on the more relating things of life, but maybe if we got it easy, we wouldn’t be thankful for the times when God just does “exceedingly above” all we could ask OR even THINK!!! now that is exciting!!!
I always have a disclaimer when I ask things, I always tell God that although I may ask, I give His Will over my life precedent, and then Im not bitter when what I asked for doesn’t happen, because I know from Jeremiah 29:11 says He has plans for a hope and a future for me, and His plans are so much more awesome than anything I could ever humbly ask for!
God Bless everyone who reads and writes in this, and I must say, I have read some blogs where people say nasty stuff, and this one is just so encouraging, it reminds me of what the “body” of Christ should be like!!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:19 am
That to date very simply is the most meaningful column I’ve read in a long while. It means a lot to this believer. Thanks.