E-EXPECTATIONS UNDER GOD’S CONTROL
In order to be gentle people, we not only must place our personality, outlook, and words under God’s control, but we must also place our expectations under God’s control as well. Listen to Ephesians 4:2, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Let me ask you a question, when someone disappoints you—and we’ve all been disappointed by people—are you gentle or judgmental? It’s a good question isn’t it? A classic Old Testament example is Elijah. The greatest day in Elijah’s life was on Mount Carmel, when the fire came down from heaven and God showed Himself. But we know that after Elijah experienced one of his greatest days in ministry, he soon after experienced discouragement and depression. His response was to retreat from life with the attitude, “I’m no better than anyone else.” His emotional state was at an all time low. Do you remember what God said to him? God said, “Elijah, I want you to go to the cave.” This phrase is kind of amusing when you think about it. When I was in elementary school and the teacher would say, “Lee, you can go and stand in the hall,” I knew the teacher would be coming out to chat with me after she finished her lesson. I would stand out in that hall with dread, waiting to see how bad my punishment was going to be.
When God said, “Elijah, I want you to go to the cave,” you can imagine what was going through Elijah’s head. Elijah was probably thinking to himself, “Man, I’ve disappointed Him. I’ve blown it big time. I haven’t been the man of God I needed to be. Where was my faith? Where was my courage? I wonder what God is going to do?” Do you remember what God did? God came to Elijah and told him to come out of the cave and stand before Him. And when Elijah came out, he experienced some amazing things. First of all, there was a strong, mighty wind; but the Bible says that God was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake; but God was not in the earthquake. Next came fire; but God was not in the fire. But finally God’s Word tells us, “after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” Do you know what God was doing? God wasn’t beating Elijah up; He was loving Elijah. He was saying, “I know you’re down and discouraged, but I am here with you.”
I’ve been talking about gentleness for several posts. Can I ask you a question? Is there anyone out there that can say, “Lee, I think I’ve got ‘gentleness’ perfected. I’ve enjoyed your posts, but I don’t feel like I have any room to grow in this area; I’ve already arrived.” Anyone? The truth is most, if not all of us, have a long way to go when it comes to gentleness. We can all probably say that we have blown it in the past when it comes to being gentle. In fact, I’m sure we would love to go back in time and change some things, but we can’t. However, don’t waste your time looking back, God is speaking to you just as He spoke to Elijah. God is saying to you, “Just go to the cave for a moment.” He’s not going to send a strong wind, or an earthquake, or even a fire. He’s going to be like the father of the Prodigal Son. When the boy came home, his Dad threw his arms around him and kissed him. God is always waiting for us with open arms.
One thing that Christianity is not – it’s not about people being perfect. It’s about people allowing God’s grace to cover and forgive every sin that they’ve ever committed, making them new people in Christ! You’ll never attain gentleness by working hard and doing your best. You will only have gentleness when you surrender that area of your life to God and allow Him to work in and through you.
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:40 pm
this was a great thought provoking challenging post. i’m looking forward to the “R”
April 14th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I rarely comment on blogs but yours I had to stop and say Great Blog!!
April 21st, 2010 at 4:00 am
Эта фраза придется как раз кстати…
Listen to Ephesians 4:2, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Let me ask you a question, when […….
July 15th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Buy:Female Cialis.Acomplia.Wellbutrin SR.SleepWell.Advair.Prozac.Nymphomax.Amoxicillin.Cozaar.Seroquel.Lipothin.Benicar.Zetia.Buspar.Female Pink Viagra.Zocor.Lasix.Ventolin.Lipitor.Aricept….