Saturday, January 2, 2016

Saturday, January 2, 2016  [Kenny Sullivan]

"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was GOOD for food and PLEASING to the eye, and also DESIRABLE for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." (Genesis 3:6)

Unsatisfied with my laboratory job of eight years - which paid fairly well, but was not intellectually stimulating - I started looking for teaching jobs.  After one interview I landed a job!  The assistant principal called me the day after my interview and asked if I would accept.  I wanted to move on from being a lab technician.  My job bored me!  I tested medical devices, analyzed my data, and wrote lab reports on the same stuff day-in and day-out.  The teaching job looked really good.  The only question was, "Is this from God?"

I prayed for God to speak to me - "Lord, give me an answer!"  Of my mother, my girlfriend and my best friend no one thought it was a good move for me.  But, I was waiting for God to answer.  I wanted Him to speak with His thunderous voice and tell me to my face that this was the wrong move.  All I could see was that it was a GOOD opportunity, PLEASING to my eyes, and DESIRABLE for satisfying my intellectual needs.  I "bit into the fruit," took the job, and experienced the worst 10 months of my life.  Each day of teaching ended with two Tylenol and the recurring question, "Lord, what have I done?"

If Genesis 3:6 teaches us anything, it definitely shows us that everything that is good in NOT necessarily God.  Maybe the opportunity, relationship, job, or product is right, but the timing is wrong.  Maybe the timing is right, but the opportunity is wrong.  Maybe it just looks good, but it's all wrong.  How can we tell?  We need a relationship with God and His Word that defines our understanding of, and relationship to, everything.  If we always are driven by our definition of GOOD we will very often miss GOD.  There are many voices vying for our attention, even our own.  But only One Voice will lead us to life (see John 6:68).  How do we hear His Voice?

1. Spend time daily reading His Word.

2. When something you read "grabs you," ask God, "What does this mean for me?"

3. Obey what He tells you.

These are simple steps, but they are NOT always easy because we like what we like and want to do what we want to do.  Obedience is the great challenge of the Christian life.  But, if we do these steps, we will develop a relationship with God that will bless us in every situation where we struggle to discern the difference between GOOD and GOD.  

Lord, please speak for your servants are listening!