Faith, the Mortar that Holds the Building Blocks Together
In this lesson, I'd like to envision a specific setting. Step with me into a time when you gathered around a campfire at a Christian camp. Hints of toasted marshmallows waft through the air. As discussion of the day's events die down, and the fire dims, your favorite camp counselor suggests that you go round the circle, and share some special things you've learned about God.
Here, I'd like to share some recent things God has shown me. Since we've been using "the building blocks of intercession" as a metaphor, this teaching could be called part of the "mortar" that holds it all together. We'll discuss two ingredients of that "mortar."
- The relationship between faith and prayer.
- The secret of "mustard-seed" faith.
Ingredient #1 - Relationship Between Faith And Prayer
Let us look at the relationship between faith and prayer.
In a previous series, we discussed a teaching that says, "if you have any doubt in your heart over a prayer request, God won't answer it." We discovered that doubts in our heads and doubts in our hearts were two different things. When the Jerusalem church prayed for Peter's freedom in Acts 12, the same peoples' doubt was evident when Peter showed up at the prayer meeting, free as a bird. The lesson: God will answer our prayers if we don't allow the doubt in our heads to drown the faith in our hearts.
Let us examine a related-reason God answered the Jerusalem church's prayers. How could people so filled with doubt receive an answer to prayer? Sometimes, need becomes stronger than doubt; and we pray despite ourselves. That's why God allows His children to face so many struggles. He uses trouble to drive doubt out of our hearts and drive us to our knees in prayer.
To God, our faith is more important than our comfort. To the Lord, faith is not an intellectual ascent to doctrinal notions. Instead, faith is a heart-felt desperation that fails to find any solution except in prayer. This touches on what James meant when he wrote: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).
I mentioned this point to help us understand God's ways. God uses the very things we avoid--facing insurmountable odds--in order to fulfill our God-given destinies. When our strength fails us, as the Lord designed the circumstances to bring about our sense of powerlessness, we have nowhere else to turn but pray. In that furnace, our heart cries drown out flesh-born doubts, and the river of faith rises inside us.
Ingredient #2 - Mustard-Seed Faith
Now, let us examine the secret of, "mustard-seed," faith.
If you haven't guessed by now, I don't believe you need to hype up your faith to get God to answer your prayers. Yet, despite that belief, I have felt like my faith didn't measure up to, "mountain-moving," faith Jesus spoke so much about.
Recently, I read a thought out of Andrew Murray's classic book on prayer, "With Christ in the School of Prayer," that confronted my thinking. It said: "Receiving or accepting an answer to prayer is just like receiving or accepting Christ" (Whitaker House, p. 85).
For days, that single sentence hung in my mind; I didn't forget it like some teachings I read or hear over the week. Andrew Murray made the statement in connection to the, "mountain-moving," verses that, as a person who prays, always bothered me. I'd like to repeat the verses here for our discussion:
"And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you" (Matthew 17:20)."And Jesus answered saying to them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you'" (Mark 11:22-24).
"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' And the Lord said, 'If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you'" (Luke 11:5-6).
These verses bother me, because Jesus said it only took faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains. If that were so, and since it's in the Bible; then why was it so difficult for me to get such a tiny bit of faith? I felt I didn't have that level of faith, since mountains weren't diving into the oceans when I prayed.
That frustrated me.
I knew that we needed some amount of faith for God to answer our requests (Hebrews 11:1-2; 6). But I don't know how precisely much faith was needed. And like many, I felt that however much that may be, it's probably a little more than what I had.
If you feel your faith is not as strong as it ought to be, you will tend to leave the serious praying up to the people whose faith you believe is sufficient to gain an answer. We cannot continue to do something that we do not believe makes any real difference.
Then, there was Andrew Murray's statement. God didn't put two-and-two together for me all at once. The still small voice of the Lord hit me days later, as I was walking from the office where I worked, to the commuter train station. I tried to repeat the impression I felt to myself several times, until I could get to a place where I could write it down. Here's roughly how it went:
"It's not a question of whether you have enough faith. It's accepting the fact that you already have enough faith. When did you have enough faith to receive Christ? Why is it so impossible to have faith as a mustard seed? You already have it. You cannot achieve levels of faith; God leads us to new levels. It's not a matter of achieving, but accepting."
In other words, it takes no more faith to receive an answer to prayer than it did to receive Christ. It takes the same amount of faith to receive the answer to a promise, as it took to receive the promised Savior. That's mustard seed faith, because the seed is the starting place. God leads us into greater measures of faith as we mature. God started Abraham with the promise of a son when he was too old to have one. The next level of faith for Abraham was; to believe that if he sacrificed Isaac like God asked him to, God would resurrect the boy. That's why Paul said, "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH'" (Romans 1:17).
Let me draw an analogy from the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz." I am not saying that we should turn to witches or wizards or any form of the occult. But we need to have the same type of revelation that Dorothy did when she asked Glenda, the good witch of the North to help her get back to Kansas. Glenda replied, "you've had the means to go back to Kansas the whole time you've been here."
Likewise in the arena of faith, we thought we've had to have something we didn't have, and we got frustrated when we couldn't obtain it. But in actuality, we had the necessary faith the whole time.
Let's draw some inferences from this thought. I don't know about you, but I received Christ at the age of eight. I know it was a real decision, because immediately afterwards, I tried to win a dear friend to Christ, for fear that he would end up in an eternal hell. How much faith did I have as a child of eight? I don't know, because I didn't have a theology of the salvation experience down. I didn't have a working grasp of the Trinity (who does?). I didn't even know what the word, "faith," meant, except some old men called their wives, "Faith."
When I was a baby, and began to walk, I didn't know much. When I was a spiritual babe, and began to walk with Christ, I didn't know much either. All I know was, when an evangelist offered me the promise of eternal life through Christ, or burning hell without Him, the choice was easy. I received the promise of Christ at the level that I was. Since then, God has taken me to new levels. But, I had to start when I could barely take my first spiritual steps..
"For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).
Jesus called such faith, mustard seed faith, not just because of the tall plant that grew from the seed. He used the analogy, because a mustard seed was the smallest object the Jewish mind could conceive. Back then, anything tinier than the human eye could see--such as a mustard seed--was invisible; people didn't have magnifying glasses.
So, God has already given each of us the level of faith sufficient to pray and receive. Paul said as much in Romans: "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." (Romans 12:3).
This truth will take time to seep into our prayer life. Over time, the Lord will raise the bar on what He wants us to pray for: He always gives us sufficient faith to pray.
In our next module, we'll discuss how to continue in faith when a truly mountain-size pray request finds itself on your prayer list.
The Relationship Between Faith And Prayer
In this lesson, I'd like to continue to discuss the relationship between faith and prayer. Let me start with a poignant illustration concerning mountain-moving faith that I discovered in the book "Partners In Prayer" by John Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996. This quote comes from page 9:
We grow to meet the challenges we pray for. I am reminded of a story of a climbing expedition to Mount Everest in 1924. A group of climbers tried twice to get to the top of the world's tallest mountain but failed. In fact, two of their party were killed in that endeavor. They met in London later to give a report before a crowd of supporters. On the stage was a large picture of Mount Everest. One of the men stood up to speak. As he addressed the crowd, he turned to the picture of Everest and said, 'You have conquered us twice, but Mount Everest, you will not conquer us every time.' He turned to the audience and with determination said, "Because Mount Everest can grow no larger, but we can." Prayer," by John Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publishers,
In essence, God is growing us to triumph over our private Everest. Our mountain may conquer us on a first or second try. While the mountain can grow no larger, God enlarges us. The next time, the irresistible force of our faith meets the immovable object, we don't give way--the mountain does.
What's your dream? Everybody has a dream. Many keep quiet about their dreams, afraid if they admit to them, they become accountable for them. Is the only time you see a dream come true is when you're asleep?
Bob Gass describes a God-size dream as follows:
If you could do anything, what would it be? Most of us don't achieve great things because we give up, we fall short, we get off track, we settle, or we dream too small. Only two things stand in your way: dreaming it, then doing it. Have you dared to dream, really dream? If something is within your apparent reach, it isn't a dream. If it doesn't stretch you, cost you, or involve risk, it isn't a dream. Dreams change you even as they change the world around you" (The Word For You Today and Celebration, Inc., 2007).
As an intercessor for others, God may have you pray over His dream for someone else. Timothy once reached a point in his life, where he metaphorically camped out at the base of some unclimbed mountains. Based upon his knowledge of the young preacher's circumstances and temperament, Paul said: "I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline" (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
The next few lessons grew out of some old dreams that God's been stirring up in me. There may be an Everest in your past that remains unconquered, and the Lord wants to stir things up in you as well.
In this module, I'd like to discuss steps we can take to cooperate with God as He enlarges our prayers to meet the insurmountable challenges involved with our destiny. The first step to following God is overcoming our reluctance. I'd like to make four points on that theme:
- See Our Potential As God Does.
- Avoid The Fear Of Failure.
- Tap Into God's Life-Changing Power.
- Determine If A Dream Is God-Given.
Let's discuss them in more detail...
How To See Our Potential As God Does
First, let's discuss how to conquer our hesitation to follow God's destiny for us.
There are many levels to our uneasiness. To start, you have to overcome the personal skepticism that arises over the role God wants us to fill. I have a dear friend who believes that the Lord wants her to write a series of children's books. As she spoke about this project over several months, it took time for her to arrive at a place where she believed God wanted her to be an author. It took her time to adjust her picture of herself to the picture of who she was in God's eyes.
Gideon had a similar experience. God picture of Gideon was shown in His greetings to the man: "'The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior...' The Lord looked at him and said, 'Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?'" (Judges 6:12,14).
On the other hand, Gideon had a different view of himself: "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house" (Judges 6:15).
So, one hurdle many face is reconciling their self-images to God's image of us. We must learn to see our potential, not through our limited resources, but God's unlimited resources (Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37).
How To Avoid The Fear Of Failure
Part of bringing your self-image into line with God's estimation involves overcoming the fear of failure. Maybe, God seems to be asking too much of you. The dream is too big. There are too many uncertainties. What if you don't succeed?
But "playing it safe" leads to regret. Theodore Roosevelt said, "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor souls who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." (Bob Gass, Copyright 2007, The Word For You Today and Celebration, Inc.).
When we focus on our fears, we empower their results. Jesus disapproved of the slave who, because of fear, failed to invest or develop the talent the Master gave him (Matthew 25:24-29). When we give into our fears, we give up on our faith. We invite the enemy to build strongholds in our mind, where God intended a monument of faith to go up (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Instead, we need to pursue the possible results with God as you address the issue in prayer with Him. Verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Roman 8:28 weren't meant to become a Christian cliché. To give you a future and a hope are God's words to those who pursue His plans, to those who labor to follow His destiny. As we keep on asking, as we keep on seeking, as we keep on knocking--and as our prayers towards heaven agree with our words and actions on earth agree, it is then that we find hope. If a person has no inclination to live out what God designed them to do, then the promises inherent in those verses will not be activated.
So instead of thinking the worst, pray for the best thing that could happen. You may enter new territory, enjoy new blessings, live the life God meant for you, bless others, and feel alive on the insides.
(We will discuss the 3rd and 4th ingredients to developing a faith-filled prayer life in the next lesson.)
Growing In Faith
We have been talking about the relationship between faith and prayer. And I have given you four "ingredients" of how to grow in faith and to become more effective in intercession.
- See Our Potential As God Does.
- Avoid The Fear Of Failure.
- Tap Into God's Life-Changing Power.
- How To Determine If A Dream If God-Given.
We already discussed the first two points in an earlier lesson, but let me review them quickly for you before we move on to the final two.
See Our Potential As God Does
The way that we see ourselves often doesn't match the way that God sees us. We tend to focus more on our known faults, limitations and weaknesses while God tends to focus more on our potential. He looks at us and He knows that He can do through us as we submit to His will for our lives. This was true in the life of Gideon, who saw himself as small and insignificant. But God (Who sees all times at once) saw Gideon as a mighty warrior even before Gideon had done single thing for the Lord.
Move Past The Fear Of Failure
When we focus on our fears, we empower their results, and that limits what we allow the Lord to do through us. When we give into our fears, we give up on our faith. We invite the enemy to build strongholds in our mind, where God intended a monument of faith to go up.
So instead of entertaining our fear and imagining potential failure, we need to pursue the possible results with God as you address the issue in prayer with Him. Instead of thinking the worst, pray for the best thing that could happen, and trust that God is able to work His glory in your life.
Ok, now we are caught up to where we ended the last lesson, so let's move on...
How To Tap Into God's Life-Changing Power
Another part of rearranging our self-opinion to line up with God's opinion is to realize the power of Christ in us. Listen to how Paul described that process: "...the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ" (Colossians 1:25b-28).
"Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us" (Ephesians 3:20).
Notice the phrases, "what is the riches of the glory of the mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," and, "exceeding abundantly, beyond...according to the power that works within us." We have resources at our disposal that no one in the Old Testament had. For example, God walked with Adam, but God didn't live inside Adam. God lives in us.
There is a store of unrefined potential in each of us. But for that gold to be separated from common quartz and other slag, God must be allowed to sift the raw ore. We must cooperate with His work: "So then, my beloved, work out your destiny [my substitution] with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippines 2:12-13).
God uses protracted prayer to unleash the potential in us.
Some methods of refining gold are similar to how God refines our potential. Electrolysis is employed at all of the United States mints. Anodes of crude gold from the mines and cathodes of pure gold are suspended in an electrolyte of gold chloride and hydrochloric acid. When current is applied, gold dissolves from the anodes and deposits on the cathodes. Impurities remain behind. Although a slow process, electrolysis yields nearly pure gold--as much as 999.9 fine (http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-201603).
In like manner, God may bring someone into your life that has attained a dream like ours in a God-honoring manner. We are tempted to follow satanic shortcuts, a move that nullifies God's blessing. That's because the narrowing path is a harrowing path. Then, that individual's path challenges us to stay true, to follow the narrow course, despite the troubles we encounter along the way. We leave thoughts of taking the easy way out behind. Though this is a slow process, God doesn't mind. 999.9 per cent fine gold is the only coin He'll put His stamp on.
Also, consider the seeds God has planted in your life (Matthew 12:31- 33; Mark 4:3,8). Consider the prophetic promises that have been sown in your life, or when He quickened a portion of the word to you in your quiet time or during a message (Romans 10:17).
We don't know what God's planted inside us, until we obediently tend His garden. Big trees grow from tiny seeds. The current tallest tree is named Hyperion, a Sequoia Redwood measuring at 379.1 feet. The tree was discovered in Redwood National Park during summer 2006. Would you believe such a tree originally grew from a seed, that was only 3-4 millimeters long and 0.5 millimeters broad, with two wings 1 millimeter wide? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia).
Similarly, God intends to raise tall trees from the tiny seeds He plants in our lives (Isaiah 55:11).
How To Determine If A Dream If God-Given
Another obstacle that faces a believer is the question, if they heard God right? Or is the dream their own needs seeking fulfillment.
For instance, many a guy or gal has entered a pastor's office, so convinced that the person they have in tow is the one they are supposed to marry, that God can't tell them otherwise. In other instances, some dreams have a glamorous side. Media images reflect the fruit of the finish line. They seldom show all the years of dedication and drudgery needed to cross that line (1 Corinthians 9:23-27).
How can you tell is a dream is from God? No one of the following principles alone should be the deciding factor in deciding whether you should follow a dream. Many are the same principles you would use to decide whether a prophetic word is from the Lord.
We've already mentioned one. Does the dream line up with the prophetic words said over you? Does the dream violate the Word of God? Have you asked God to take away the vision, only to find its grown stronger over time (Jeremiah 20:9)?
God is very gracious with His children. Many Christians criticize Gideon for the tests he put God through before he took up the Lord's call on his life. If the truth were told, few of those same believers would begin a faith journey without the Lord showing them a sign or two. The fleece request was the first time God answered one of Gideon's prayer requests. God doesn't mind us testing the waters, if we are truly willing to pursue our destinies. You don't have to be special, as long as you treat God special by obeying Him.
When you discover your God-given dream and commit to it, there's no telling how far you'll go or what kind of impact you'll make.
More on Prayer, Faith, and Destiny
I'd like to continue to discuss the relationship between faith and prayer. I want to repeat portions of our opening illustration from last time, as it remains germane to our discussion:
We grow to meet the challenges we pray for. I am reminded of a story of a climbing expedition to Mount Everest in 1924. A group of climbers tried twice to get to the top of the world's tallest mountain but two of their party were killed in that endeavor. They met in London later to give a report before a crowd of supporters. One of the men stood up to speak [and] turned to [a] picture of Everest. "You have conquered us twice, but Mount Everest, you will not conquer us every time." He turned to the audience and with determination said, "Because Mount Everest can grow no larger, but we can." ("Partners in Prayer," by John Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996, p. 9.)
I'd like to discuss some additional observations over prayer, faith, and God's destiny for us. Those observations surround the importance of pursuing God's destiny through prayer. I'd also like to discus how to face challenges when following God's way gets tough.
Pursuing God's Destiny Through Prayer
It's important to pursue God's destiny through prayer. One way to explore the importance of, "why." is to ask, "What if I didn't pursue God's destiny for me? What difference would it make?"
George Bailey, the fictional character from, "It's A Wonderful Life," faced a similar question. He was given the rare opportunity to see what the world would have been like if he'd never been born. He was shocked at the difference one life--his own--made in the lives of hundreds of people.
You and I have no idea how many lives we touch. Only God sees that. One of the biggest things George found out was that, the simple act of saving his careless younger brother's life, a venture that cost him part of his hearing, later prevented the death of a score of soldiers. That younger brother's heroic acts on the battlefield made the difference. A story yes, but truth is often stranger than fiction.
This bears repeating: you and I have no clue how many lives we influence. You don't know the number of lives your prayers touch beyond the person you pray for. And, we haven't a notion as to how many we touch when, through prayer and obedience, we pursue God's destiny for us.
For example, often God wants you to blaze a trail or break through a wall, so others can follow you to their own freedom in Christ. There is a "breaker anointing," where God helps us as we go "out-on-a-limb" in following His will: "The breaker goes up before them; they break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the Lord at their head" (Micah 2:13).
This is not an automatic formula for success. We know that Hebrews 11:13 says: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth."
But, we know that, as we follow God in faith and take Him at His word, despite our circumstances, He is able to do more with us than we ever dreamed possible. It is only when we are walking with the Lord, that we feel truly alive (Luke 24:32).
Facing Challenges (or When the Going Gets Tough)
I can promise you that there will be obstacles and challenges as you pursue God's destiny for your life. The question is not "will they come?" but "How will you face them when they do come?"
Things get tough when you set your mind to follow God's will. As Jesus approached the cross and Jerusalem, the Bible says: "Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51). In other words, Jesus set his mind and purpose to follow God plan. The fact that he had to make this type of commitment shows that following His Father's plans didn't come automatically. If Jesus wasn't exempt, then neither are we.
The Bible makes certain promises for those who make up their minds and resolve their emotions to follow God's purpose: "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).
Literally, God empowers your decision when you make up your mind. A mind at peace is similar to a plane that follows a hurricane within the eye of the storm. Getting to that place of peace is turbulent; often you feel you're about to be blown off course. But, once you've arrived, there is no danger. There is danger in indecision.
Let's draw this out a little bit. The scriptures talk about that eye-of-the-storm place with several illustrations. Here are two of them: "For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock" Psalms 27:5. "You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues" (Psalms 31:10).
Observe how the eye-of-the-storm is called a, "secret place." In other passages, it's called a, "hidden place." In both instances, God's secret place shields a person from "days of troubles," from conspiracies, and from slanderous tongues.
Where is the secret place? Let's examine a set of verses God brought to my attention recently:
"...and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, for, 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time; casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:5b-7).
God continually drew my attention to the phrase, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time." "Humbling yourself under God's mighty hand," has nothing to do with being passive. Since there is a, "proper time," for exaltation, we have a couple of choices when a promotion, with our name written all over it, goes to someone else.
The topic of promotions isn't limited to the workplace.
Your feelings will run the gambit in this situation. You'll feel numb due to shock. You may lose sleep trying to reason out what went wrong. You may feel angry with the people in charge of handing out the promotions. You may envy the person promoted. You may find yourself wondering if the process was fixed, and whether you were ever in the running from the start.
These feelings are normal. Humbling oneself under the mighty hand of God spells the difference between success and failure. The bottom line question is, "What do you do with the feelings?"
God's way is to allow their expression, without encouraging them to take root in us. For example, the easy thing to do is stay mad at the people involved. That leads to unforgiveness and envy. If we permit either unforgiveness or envy to take root, we open ourselves up to the attacks of the enemy (Matthew 18:21-35; James 3:16). The hard choice is not to dwell on those emotions when they arise.
We must be wary of what stirs up our emotions. In many instances, it's the enemy. He disguises his voice as our own, and intrudes on our thoughts. You are thinking about an unrelated subject, then suddenly, an idea on how to "get even" comes to mind. Should you follow it unchallenged? Based upon this teaching, no. You should command the thought to leave you, in Jesus' name. If it disappears, then there's a good chance the thought had a demonic origin.
I do want to talk about one exception here. Sometimes, God allows you to be passed over, to expose leftover roots from similar situations in the past. He wants to cleanse old wounds that never healed properly. Or, the Lord wants to expose areas of unforgiveness that, in our immaturity or reluctance, we held onto. Our Father doesn't enjoy watching the enemy bully us, because of long-standing bitterness, envy, or lack of forgiveness. Look at Hebrews 12:15: "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled."
I don't want to minimize the seriousness of any acts perpetuated against someone. For example, being used by God to bless someone does not mean we should allow ourselves to be misused by them. I do want to stress a different way of dealing with a past injustice, one that promises release, versus further bondage. When you make room for God's qualities to grow in you, you are positioned for God to use you (1 Peter 1:5-8).
We also need to bless those who passed over us, and the people chosen for the position we hoped to get. We should pray for them. We need to bless them with our lips. That means we shouldn't spread rumors about the selection process, whether it was fair or unfair. That means we should not cut them down in the presence of other people.
Why? The easy thing to do is blame everyone else for our difficulties. The hard choice is to see where I share the blame, learn what I did wrong, so that, should another chance come, I can do things the right way. You increase your chance of winning if you don't repeat the same mistakes. When we chose to trust God despite the circumstances, we position ourselves for future promotional opportunities.
We must avoid developing a habit of doubt. The enemy can use disappointment over an unanswered or delayed prayer request as a foundation for doubting God.
Once, I rode in an uncle's car, and ever 3-4 minutes, he would pull the hand-brake release. I watched this go on for about 15 minutes for no apparent rhyme or reason. When asked, he said that long ago, he forgot to unlock his emergency brakes while parked, and promptly burnt out his brakes. So, even though that was many years earlier, and his brakes had been fixed since then, he still hit his emergency brake handle ever few miles. Over time, my Uncle's concern about his parking brake developed into annoying habit.
If doubt becomes a habit, we weigh ourselves down with unnecessary worries. Fear may stop us from taking a necessary step of faith. To avoid such doubts, we must believe that, whatever decision the people made, God is the one ultimately responsible for the decision: "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Proverbs 21:2).
That means that God either swayed the decision to what He thought was best for us now, waiting to give us a better opportunity later. Or, if another person was wrongly chosen by the deciding officials, that He will work to right that inequity. Remember, when Joseph was wronged, God still gave him favor in each situation (Genesis 39:2, 4-5, 21-23). Let's not forget that ultimately, we work for God, and not man. Our loyalty belongs to the Lord (Ephesians 6:5-9)
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