1 Chronicles 22:16… Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.
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It is a noted fact that being busy keeps one’s mind sharp, their body active, and their spirit alive. This is not only because of the physical act of working, but the satisfaction of creating something of value.
God calls, uses, and greatly blesses those who are busy! It’s been said that if you need something important to get done, give it to the busiest person. Not the person who is doing nothing and just needs something to do. They are the ones you give the menial tasks to; the tasks that don’t hurt anything if they aren’t done. But, you give the important work to the person who is already busy about something. This is because they already have a mind to work and will figure out a way to get it completed, even if it means delegating some of their own lesser important tasks to others so as to get the more important work done that only they can do.
This is also taught by Jesus when He says in Luke 12:48 ..For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Why is this the case? This is because it is not too difficult to find people who don’t want to do anything at all. It isn’t too difficult to find those who won’t do any more than they have to. It’s also rather easy to find those who will just do what they’re told, almost no matter what it is they’re told to do. However, it is a bit more difficult to find those who will just be part of whatever is going on. It is more difficult to find those to whom you can entrust an entire task, and it is FAR more difficult to find those who are not only actively looking for things to do and ways to be part of what’s going on, but they are also looking for ways to make things better and, more importantly to them, add value to whatever group it is they are part of or whatever it is they are doing, even if it is at their own expense. It is to this last group of people that the phrase “…of him they will ask the more.” is not seen simply as an increase of unwanted responsibility that they’re not getting paid enough for, but they see it as an opportunity and an honor to their character! These are things on which a financial figure cannot be affixed because it transcends the value of money!
Abram Was Blessed
God’s call to Abram is found in Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
It is believed that Abram was a successful man in his home country, Ur of the Chaldees. So, he was already busy when God called him to go out and begin building something else; in this case an entire nation. Of course, it would be God who would build the nation through Abram but God simply called Abram to be the vessel through which God could build this new nation. It took great faith on Abram’s part because he had to trust in God’s character and provision for him as he went to this land he had neither heard of nor seen.
Adjusting as You Go
There is no such thing as a perfectly executed plan. A plan may be perfect, as it was with God’s plan to build a nation through Abram, but the execution thereof is something different altogether. This is because a perfect plan ceases to be perfect once you include imperfect people into it. The people may be perfect in their hearts toward God, but that’s as far as it goes. The abilities, actions, and attitudes are all imperfect and will call for constant adjusting as they move toward the accomplishing of the plan.
It’s like driving a car. You may know where you want to eventually end up, but you’ll have to constantly adjust your speed and take different turns in order to get there. If a road you intended to take is closed, you don’t just sit there and complain about it (not for too long anyway). You turn around and find a different route in order to get you to your destination.
On his way to accomplishing God’s plan, Abram made a perfect plan become imperfect by his decisions along the way. He took his father and his nephew Lot with him when he left his country, although God told him to leave his family behind in Genesis 12:1.
Abram lied to Pharoah about his wife, calling her his sister, which is half true but not a complete truth and caused some problems there. This is also covered in Genesis 12.
You can read about the headache caused when his nephew Lot had to be rescued TWICE because of the company he chose to keep. These events are covered in Genesis 14 & 19. Both of these could have been averted if Abram had listened to God back in Genesis 12.
Abram, in trying to “help” God fulfill His promise, has a child named Ishmael with Hagar the handmaid of his wife Sara in Genesis 16, which would become a problem to the entire world, as it was said about Ishmael in Genesis 16:12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
Increasing Your Chances of Success
I wanted to bring out the last section because it seems many people are afraid of not reaching the goal they originally intended to reach. This makes some people not even try and if not reaching the goal is their definition of failure, then they have assured the very thing they thought they were avoiding…FAILURE!
The law of averages basically states that you have a higher likelihood of success if you make more attempts, not if you attempt nothing. This is of course no guarantee, just like swinging a baseball bat doesn’t guarantee you’ll actually hit the ball, but your chances are significantly increased if you at least try.
Will there be failures along the way? Of course! We see this in the life of Abram, but the very existence of the nation of Israel and the blessings upon all nations that support Israel are a testament to the fact that if we keep on going, we will eventually succeed even if it’s at something that was not our original goal, but became a goal along the way as we were busy and trying new things!
There are also basic things you must do constantly that are part of your everyday business. Trying new things should never come at the expense of the important requirements of your business. As a Pastor, I must continue to reach out to people, preach the Gospel, teach the word of God, promote unity in our church, promote our church to the public, etc. but as we stay busy and try new things along the way, eventually one or more of those things will pan out and become a great blessing to us and to others!
The best way to succeed at something is to be doing something…LOTS of somethings! Not everything will work out as intended and some of those things will have to be abandoned as you go. Life is made up of zigzags and gropings along the way as we learn what works and what does not work.
So, if there is something you would really like to see happen and believe that it could be a great blessing, it would be worth your time to think of ways to bring it to pass. Rather than complaining about how it’s not being done, Fear Not: Arise and Be Busy because that is what God blesses!
Closing Prayer:
Lord, I ask you to help me break out of the fear of doing something differently than I’ve always done it and help me to be busy for You and Your glory! I understand that because of me the plan will not be perfectly executed and there will be failures along the way. But, I will stick close to You and let You guide me the best I can so that You will be glorified! Amen!
Next Level Living 