I was reading a book about Love and it struck me:  He knows what works.  The whole Bible was written with instructions for life and growth.  But many people in the Bible didn’t obey God’s instructions or just were so terrified of Him because they either thought of God as a tyrant or a taskmaster, hovering and ready to kill them if they stepped out of line.

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In the New Testament Jesus did some things that were not right according to the religious people of the day who looked at God as a taskmaster.  He didn’t fit their mold of a good Jew or their thoughts of what the Messiah should be.  He said some things that just don’t make sense in the natural.  Things like, “By your words…” and “Give and it will be given to you…” But the very God who told Jesus to say those things knows what works and what doesn’t.

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In the book of Genesis, chapter 1, it reads like God spoke these things like trees covering the Earth and land separated by oceans and they all happened the very day, 24 hrs., that He spoke them.  But, if you look at trees you will realize that it takes many years for them to grow.  What I am saying is that God had plenty of time to find out what works and what doesn’t work.  This is why Jesus, God in the flesh, said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments,” (John 14:15 Good News Translation).  One translation simply has it that Jesus said, do what I say; well, that’s the same thing.

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So, why would Jesus say that? Was it because He wanted to be the boss of you, a tyrannical dictator, a taskmaster?  Did He just want to keep you under His thumb or be a ‘hover mom’?  Not at all; it’s just that He knows what works and what doesn’t.

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Suppose I had been a bridge builder for many decades, I knew all the requirements, the weight-bearing needs, all that stuff.  You just came to work for me and you really respected me and my abilities to make the best bridges that could stand up to any hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or tsunamis.

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But when I told you what I wanted you to do you thought me a tough crazy man, you thought, ‘That’s very irregular and unprofessional.  No, I can do it my way.’  Well, I know what works to build a strong and lasting bridge that people can used and be happy with.  So, what do you think would happen if you tried to do it your way, not the way I’ve been doing it (the tried and true way)?

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I was called into the ministry over 32 yrs. ago.   When I went to my pastor, guess what he had me doing the first day?  You got is, cleaning toilets.  Then I graduated up to running to the store for him.  I found out that to do a good work, maybe a great work for God you may have to start by cleaning toilets.  NOTICE: I never said, or even thought, ‘I’m too good for this.  God called me to be a great preacher.  No, washing toilets just isn’t right.’  If I did that I might never have gotten God’s promotion.  No, there’s no ‘might’ about it.  Another thing that happened when God called me as an evangelist is that God put me behind a typewriter.  So, I thought I was going to preach to a multitude and He set me behind a typewriter (from ideas of grandeur to behind the scenes reality).  32 yrs. later he called me to start a church (from behind the screens to grandiose position).  This seems to be how God works.  And, He knows what works.

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So, when you are called into the ministry or when you come and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, do everything His way because He knows what works and He knows that if you don’t do it His way you won’t get the desired results.  God’s word works; if you don’t work His word it will still work, just not for you.  It will work for the one who puts it to work and holds to it until the result is in.