When You Don't Know What To Do
1. God Always Knows What To Do
Two weeks ago I was reading through the book of John and God pointed out the word, "believe" to me and I knew that was what He wanted me to use for my next devotional theme. As I finished up those thoughts yesterday I prayed that God would lead me to our new topic, but as the time grew later and later Saturday, I still didn't have a new idea on what to do. I am probably not the only one who has moments when I just don't know what to do. So, this is what we are looking at today, "When You Don't Know What To Do." I don't know where God will lead in this line of thought, but God always knows what to do, and I am trusting in Him to guide me.
2. Keep The Faith
Today is the Lord's Day and I am glad that I can go to the Lord's house to worship Him. There are many in our church who have physical conditions and are not able to meet together at this time. There are some churches who are being told they can't meet to worship. I feel like David when he said, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." (Psalm 122:1) We are living in difficult times and we see the day of the coming of our Lord approaching. There are many things going on that we don't know what we can do about, but the writer of Hebrews gives us some good advice. Keep the faith. Don't quit on God. Be considerate of one another in love. Don't quit on one another. And don't quit your church. We have come too far to turn back now.
"23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:23-25)
3. "For Such A Time As This"
Pastor Jack Tripp began his Sunday sermon from the book of Esther.
"12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:12-14)
Esther was a Jewish woman who had been chosen to be the new queen after Queen Vashti had been banished. Haman enticed King Ahasuerus to sign a petition that all the Jews could be killed after Mordecai (who raised Esther after her parents died) refused to bow to him. So Mordecai sent word to Queen Esther to go before the king and make a plea for her people. I like the last part of verse 14, "and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" We are here on earth, during these trying times and God has a plan and purpose for our lives. We may not know what to do, but God can lead us and use us according to His will. The next few days I hope to share a few notes from Pastor Tripp's sermon that may help us "for such a time as this."
4. Examine Yourselves
The first point in Preacher Tripp's sermon was, "Examine Yourselves." "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (II Corinthians 13:5) The most important thing to examine is your salvation. Make sure you know that you are saved by God's grace. You can confess your sin and ask Jesus to forgive you and save you now, but after you die it is too late. If you are saved, it is good also to examine yourselves and be reminded of where you were and what God saved you from. This gives us a gracious and thankful attitude. It is important to examine ourselves because God is going to examine us when this life is over.
This was not part of the sermon, but I think most of us want to examine everyone else. Or, we want to use the life of others to compare our lives to, and that is not what we should be doing. We don't need to judge others. With the trouble I have breathing I can't wear a mask. I have tried and each time I put one on I start having anxiety issues. I can feel the examining stares of some people I pass in the grocery store. We need to focus on examining ourselves instead of judging others.
5. Exercise Ourselves Unto Godliness
Pastor Tripp's next point is "Exercise Ourselves Unto Godliness", taken from I Timothy 4:7-8. "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." We need to exercise ourselves spiritually, so that we are not exercised by the chastening of the Lord.
His examples included...
A few deep knee bends... bow down in prayer before the Lord.
Lifting up our hands over our heads in praise to our God.
Running our race with patience. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us," (Hebrews 12:1)
And as walking is such a great exercise, the list is complete with walking with the Lord. "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
6. Some Things We Just Have To Endure
So before I begin with this next point, I want to give a short definition of "Endure" from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online. Endure: "to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding." That seems to be an appropriate definition of what we have been doing this year. Our verse is, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (II Timothy 2:3) Sometimes life is hard, but don't quit. Don't forget about the Lord. Draw closer to God and pray and praise Him more. How do we endure like a good soldier of Jesus Christ? We follow instructions, be faithful in duty, be fearless in the battle, be free from distractions, find strength in the grace of God, fight the enemy, and finish our assignment. The Apostle Paul endured hardness and was able to say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." (II Timothy 4:7-8) Some things we just have to endure.
7. Escape
As I was growing up I heard preachers give sermons on the last days and the coming of Christ. All seemed to agree that Jesus would rapture the church, the saved believers, before the time of tribulation. I have read the book of Revelation and I don't want to be here when the vials of God's judgment are poured out on earth. All of the signs of the times seem to be telling us that the coming of Christ will be soon. The last point of Pastor Tripp's sermon was that we will "Escape Some Of These Things That Are Coming." "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:36)
"29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:29-36)
8. Fight, Flight, Or Fall
The Fight Or Flight Response is a physiological response that happens in times of fear when our bodies prepare to fight or flee from harm's way. This week I read an article which stated that when our thyroid is not performing correctly it can affect our Fight Or Flight Response. I can say that when my thyroid is out of sorts, I don't have the courage or stamina to fight, nor do I have the strength to flee. I don't know what I would do in such a situation, but sometimes what I really want to do in difficult situations is fall to the floor... on my knees. You may ask if I have a scripture for that... and "Yes, I do." The Assyrian army came up against Judah and King Hezekiah took the letter from the enemy and fell down at the altar and spread out the letter as he prayed to the living God.
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only." (Isaiah 37:14-20)
Sometimes when we don't know what to do we can't fight, or flee, but we can always fall on our knees and pray. The end of the chapter tells us how God answered Hezekiah's prayer. God defeated the army of 185,000 of Assyria and Judah did not have to fight or flee.
"33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." (Isaiah 37:33-38)
9. The Potter Molds The Clay
Mom called me Thursday morning and asked me if I would help her clean her plants so she could move them back into the house. During the summer she puts all her house plants on the screened in porch, and just before the weather turns cold she washes the leaves and trims away the bad, and moves them back into the house. She has so many it is a big job, so I told her I would be glad to help her. When I got there she had already moved them from the back porch to the deck and the rain from Hurricane Sally had given them a good washing. One by one we shook off the excess water, moved them into the kitchen, dried each leaf and cut away the dried or dead sections. Some of her peace lilies were placed at Dad's funeral almost 20 years ago and she has done this every year, putting them into larger pots when necessary. As we were working she asked me, "Do you think my plants enjoy getting a bath?" I told her that they probably did, but I didn't think they enjoyed getting all the bad cut away. Then I remembered a sermon I heard recently about the Potter and the Clay. Sometimes when we are going through trials and we don't know what to do, we need to realize that we are still in the hands of the Potter and He is still in control. It is painful to go through the fiery trials, but there are times when our loving God has to cut away the bad and just as the clay, we are being molded in His hands. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (I Peter 4:12-13)
"1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." (Jeremiah 18:1-10)
10. Don't Lose Hope
I was reading the end of the book of Acts, where Paul was in a great tempest on the sea and had been in the storm for days. In the darkness and severity of the storm we read, "all hope that we should be saved was then taken away." You may feel the severity of your storm, and it seems like it has gone on for days, or weeks, or even months. The mariners did everything they knew to do, and they lost all hope.
"18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away." (Acts 27:18-20)
Maybe we can get some help through some of the things they did. First of all, Paul told them the angel of God stood by him. He told them to "be of good cheer: for I believe God..." Our first step in not losing hope is to believe God. He has promised never to leave nor forsake and He will always stand by us.
"22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." (Acts 27:22-25)
Our next step is, don't jump ship. The shipmen tried to leave the ship on a lifeboat and Paul told them that in order to be saved they had to stay with the ship. Don't quit on God. Jack Austin, a member of our church, sings a song which says, "Help won't help tomorrow, If you give up today." Stay with the Lord.
After 14 days of fasting and fighting the storm Paul told them to eat. It is hard to fight storms without nourishment. Paul gave thanks in their presence, and they ate bread.
"34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat." (Acts 27:34-36)
After they ate they lightened the ship by throwing everything they didn't need overboard. Sometimes during our hard trials we have to let go of some things that are bringing us down. When they were close enough to an island, they let down anchors and as the waves beat the ship to pieces they held on to what they could and made it to land. "... they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:... And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land." (Acts 27:43-44)
They all escaped and survived the storm. Don't lose hope! Hang on to what you can, knowing that God is always with you.
11. Traveling Through This Weary Land
We drove down to South Carolina over the weekend to be in church with our family as our grandson was baptized Sunday morning. Driving in the traffic, keeping my eyes on the road and the concrete barricades, I missed the exit for our usual stopping place. I watched ahead for a place to stop that might have clean rest rooms and pulled off the interstate, in some small town. We got out, stretched our legs, and didn't see anything we wanted, but we did get another bottle of water out of the cooler. As I was backing out of the parking place I told Michael that a woman was leaning against the building and crying. Thinking she needed help, I pulled into another parking spot and we walked over to her. She was there without her phone, waiting on someone to pick her up, not sure that he knew where she was. I let her borrow my phone and she called him as we looked for road signs and businesses close by so she could give him directions. I usually don't know exactly how to witness to people, but after she hung up I said, "Has anybody ever told you that Jesus loves you and He died for you?" The words just flowed out of my mouth, and I know the Holy Spirit was guiding me. She said, "Yes" and said she recognized the verse on my shirt. (I was wearing my "I'm a whosoever... John 3:16" shirt, which now has grease stains, but I decided to wear it anyway.) I gave her a tract on how to be saved and after her assurance that her friend now knew where she was waiting, my phone rang. I told her it was my son calling, from where we were going, and I felt like God was telling me we had done what He placed us there to do and it was okay for us to continue on our way. As we got back in the car I knew, without a doubt, that God had put us there to help that young lady. She had been harassed by a man as she was waiting and God knew she needed kindness from a helpful person, and He chose us. I am so thankful that God allowed us to be a help for this stranger in need. There are so many scams by people trying to get money, and you don't know when someone really needs help, but as we drove back onto the interstate I had complete assurance that God put us at the right time and place to help a soul in need. He had truly put us there "for such a time as this."
12. Put Some Things To Memory
I want to continue with our story from yesterday about helping a stranger in need. The young lady told me she didn't have her phone and she only knew one number, and it was the person who was coming to pick her up. A few years ago when a car hit Michael from behind as he sat at a traffic light, the impact threw his phone and it wouldn't work. He had to borrow a phone from someone to call me, but he didn't know my cell number, and he had to call his Mom, and she called me to tell me where to go get him. As phones have gotten better and we use our directories to call by names, we are less likely to remember phone numbers. About the only phone numbers I can call from memory are the ones that I learned long ago, such as my Mom, my Mother-in-law, and my house. As my family and friends got cell phones I added them to my directory and never took time to memorize their numbers. Some times I forget to take my phone when I leave the house, so I really need to memorize a few numbers in case I ever had to borrow a phone and call someone. Learning phone numbers or road names may be helpful if we find ourselves in a situation where we don't know what to do. I think I will start dialing numbers more and maybe over time I can learn the numbers for my family.
For a spiritial lesson we can see that it is also helpful to memorize God's Word. There are times when we need help from the Lord and we may not have our Bible with us. Knowing God's Word can help us when we don't know what to do. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11) I read a story once of a man who was in an accident at work and he knew he was dying. He begged for one of his co-workers to tell him how to get saved before he died and not one of them knew how to tell him how to be saved. Could you help lead a soul to Christ? Memorize the verses to the Romans Road so you would be able to help a soul in need.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
13. Don't Get Too Upset When You Are Put On Another Path
This devotional is for me. Most of the time it doesn't bother me when I miss a turn and have to go a different direction. I tell myself that there may have been a reason God put me on another path. But, lately there have been a few times when I took a wrong turn and I got upset that I had to go miles out of the way to get where I was going. In our traveling over the weekend I missed our usual place to stop because I was paying so much attention to the concrete barricades and traffic. I like to stop where the surroundings are familiar and I feel safe. I was thinking about how much I didn't like stopping at the unfamiliar gas station, when I saw the young lady crying, and God told me that He had a purpose for me to be there. Sometimes God puts us on another path because He has other plans for us. You may not have the job you wanted, or be living where you want to live. You may have lost your job through no fault of your own. We are living in troubled times and 2020 has taken us down different paths, but God is still in control. Keep looking to the Lord for guidance. Let Him use you where you are. Don't quit. Keep your focus on the Lord and put your trust in Him. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
14. Having Compassion
I want to share one more devotional from our trip last weekend, and it's on compassion. Because of all the evil in the world today we can become scared to show compassion. We read of people who pretend to be in need just so they can beg for money, or rob you, or even something worse like kidnapping you. It makes us hard towards others. Most of the time I don't give people money who are asking, but there have been times when God gave me a nudge in my heart that there was a real need in that person's life and I tried to help with their need. I have read that people in nursing homes and care facilities are dying of loneliness because they don't understand why their families have stopped coming to see them. My little granddaughter was sick and her Mom told me that she was up crying that night because she thought she was going to die of Covid. Look at what we are doing to our elderly and children. We try to teach our children not to talk to strangers, and now we have to teach them to be constantly aware of the people around them. When we went across the parking lot to talk with the young woman Saturday morning God gave me peace about trying to help her. In our world today it is often dangerous to step up to those who seem to be in need, so always listen for that peace that God gives before you approach strangers. There are many in the world who need to be saved and are looking for compassion, but there are also many who are wicked and extremely evil. Be careful. Jude gives some good advice on having compassion, but first he tells us to build up ourselves in faith and prayer, and the love and mercy of God.
"20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh."
15. When You Don't Know What To Do - Pray!
We have looked at several things you can do when you don't know what to do, but as I close this series I tried to think of the most important thing we can do. Sometimes when we don't know what to do we don't have time to stop and consider all our options. Life's problems can come at us quickly. The best thing we can do in times like that is, pray! It doesn't even have to be a long prayer as long as it is to the One who hears and answers our prayers. When Peter stepped out of the boat in the midst of the storm to walk to Jesus he took his eyes off His Lord and began to sink. As we read this story in Matthew 14 we see that the disciples were right where Jesus had told them to be. And the storm still came. The disciples were tossed about in the midst of the stormy sea. Peter stepped out of the ship in faith, but when he saw the storm around him, his faith was weak. He began to sink, and he prayed the shortest prayer recorded in our Bible, "Lord, save me." This prayer is strong enough to save us and it is enough to keep us, even in the midst of our storms. So when you find yourself in trouble and you don't know what to do, pray to the God who loves you and who has compassion to hear, and power to help you.
"22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God." (Matthew 14:22-33)
