Security. Everyone strives for this idea. A life that is completely secure, an education that secures a title, a job that secures all life's needs, friends that secure a social life, insurance that secures protection for your health, car, and home, investments and savings that secure a perfect retirement? Sign me up! Without these securities we feel completely vulnerable to all of life's spiteful calamities. We build entire empires around ourselves to protect us from the possibility of ending up unsuccessful, unhappy, without a plan and all alone.
By no means am I suggesting that any of these things are inherently "bad". Scripture is constantly endorsing hard work, diligence, prudence, wisdom, etc... These are all a part of His plan to extend the Kingdom on the earth! What I am addressing is the motive. What happens if the Lord asks us to lay down one of these securities? Is there a trusting heart that lies within the walls of our empires? Or will our fear and insecurity be unveiled?
I can be really honest, my heart felt exposed, laid bare, fearful and vulnerable when the Lord asked me if I would give Him the need to have a "secure" life. He asked me if I could let HIM be my security. Isaiah 28:16 says, "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic." Could I live a lifestyle of relying on Jesus as my sure foundation? Of course any of us would say that our security comes from Jesus, but when it really comes down to it, can we choose to live that way?
A majority of what I am doing right now consists of ministry to the Lord. Pursuit of His face. Pouring out myself in the place of worship and prayer. Discovering the truth of who God is and declaring it back to Him. Letting His love spill over from the place of worship and into the community. Partnering with God's heart in contending for revival in the earth, for transformed lives and cities. And this is my very heartbeat, where I find my passion and purpose colliding. But still at the back of my mind was this nagging thought. Is this kind of life actually legitimate? Isn't this just wasting your time? You could be out there building your life and your ministry, but instead you are worshipping and praying. I knew the truth of what God had placed inside of me, but it was like the mainstream voice of society was waging war on what I truly believed.
Then I came upon this verse - Deuteronomy 10:8-9, "At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him."
Levi was the one tribe out of the 12 tribes of Israel that was chosen to serve as priests who would minister to the Lord. When the children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land, the land was divided amongst the tribes as their inheritance, except for the tribe of Levi. They were not given land to toil and occupy. Their inheritance was to steward the presence of God!
This example has now become a picture of what each of us are called to as children of God. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." As priests, each of us are now called to minister to the Lord in the holiness of His presence! It is our great privilege and our inheritance.
As the Lord revealed this to me, I began to see the great validity of what I am doing. The actual expression of a life of ministry before the Lord may change over time and with the passing of each season, but at the end of the day I know that my number one calling is to simply love on Jesus. And for now it looks like the Levites, having His presence as my inheritance instead of pursuing all other inheritances. I know it looks foolish. But He seems to like to use the foolish things as opposed to the things that make sense to us.
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