3 Questions for Chaotic Days

If we are not careful, chaos will drive us to carnal reasoning and the resultant carnal response. The best defense is a good offense. Our best offense against the wiles of our carnal mind is the process of faith. That process is dependent on an intimate relationship with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Luke 11:10

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20

As a bit of a side note, it is interesting that the door of intimacy with the Lord opens both ways. He desires our intimacy like a groom for his bride. Truly, nothing but our reluctance stands in the way.

Recognizing that intimacy requires conversation, let me suggest three conversation starters:

Lord, what are you saying?

Lord, what are you doing?

Lord, what are you after?

There is an assumption behind these questions: God is after something; He is trying to do something to get what He is after, and; He is willing to tell us all that we need to know. God is using this season of chaos (like so many others) to prepare His children for a season of opportunity that is likely beyond our imagination.

Navigating God’s Call to More – Guided by the Desires of His Heart

Navigating God’s call to more based on the trajectory of our past, is profitable and encouraging; but it is a limited perspective. To understand and follow God’s purpose for the next season, we must also look to the future.

You may be tempted to balk at this. The future is unknown. It can be an uncomfortable consideration for many; and our subconscious minds seem to always be playing tricks. Resist the temptation. Be suspicious of your mind. Embrace the mind of Christ; and the heart of God.

Here’s a good word: God’s call to more is an adventure. There’s just no getting around it. Adventures are a mix of excitement and fear. Deal with the fear, and it is all excitement. Behind every fear is a lie. Deal with the lie, and the fear will fly.

Welcome to the most exciting adventure of your life!!!

Now, back to the heart of God. That’s where we will find the light we need to discern the purpose God has for our next season, and the transition that will guide us into it.

Navigating God’s Call to More – Discovering the Purpose

As a reminder, this series is being written for those who sense they are in a season of transition – a call by God to more kingdom adventure. God has a way to maximize the “more” of that adventure. It includes preparation, and discovery of purpose, before planning and execution.

We are currently in the discovery phase – seeking to hear and understand God’s purpose for the next season of our lives. In our previous article, we learned that our purposes are contextualized and constrained by God ultimate purpose – to restore the reign, habitation and intimacy He lost in mankind’s rebellion.

Mankind’s fall was more devastating that we can imagine. God’s desire to include us in the restoration has introduced a complexity that we simply cannot fathom. His patience and long-suffering leaves us wanting for greater exclamations of praise and worship!

God is a process-oriented problem solver. The solution to the problem mankind introduced in the rebellion is a process that includes many “good works”. Strung together – in process – these culminate in the restoration of all things dear to God.

You may not have considered this: Our desire and willingness to be prepared, and to discovered His purposes for us, is a form of worship – perhaps even more than the work itself. If this is our heart’s desire, the time invested will not be wasted; for we will emerge with faith for the good works that await us.

Navigating God’s Call to More – Context and Constraint

Our ability to navigate God’s call to more rises and falls on our understanding, belief and obedience to His greater purposes. To understand them, we must surrender to His will (John 7:17).

It is in our hearts – where man believes – that God stores His desires for “greater than” things. These are the desires He will give us as we surrender to His will (Psalm 37:4).

The LORD’s greatest commandment is that we love Him with all our being. Love is more than an emotion. It is a choice that catalyzes our obedience to His will. If we love Him, we will obey His commandments (John 14:15).

To understand the greater purposes of God is to know His heart; for those purposes are His greatest desires. We appropriate His grace for them through the faith He has given us in them. The joy of participation in the greater work of God is found in our obedience to them.

So, how can we know the greater purposes of God? Let me suggest we look at the beginning and the end of His story.

Fasting as a Gateway

There was a time when fasting was a part of my Christian walk. Though profitable for a time, it became a religious thing; so I put it down for a season – until I could find God’s heart in it. Recently, the Lord put it back on my mind and stirred the desire in my heart for the fast that pleases Him.

The following is a brief summary of what I have come to understand about “The True Fast” of Isaiah 58. I hope you will use it as a launching point for your own exploration. To help in your discovery, keep in mind that the precepts of the Old Covenant are often examples of the New. In this case, the true fast is a foreshadowing of the fasted lifestyle.

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

“The fasted lifestyle is about desire and wholeheartedness, about setting aside our physical hunger for things, as we commit wholeheartedly to grow in intimacy with Jesus.” Mike Bickle; Director of the International House of Prayer, Kansas City

The True Fast

Begin this study by reading Isaiah 58, in full. Then, consider the following thoughts as you reread each verse:

Verse 1: This is an important message. Give it your full attention. It is about the sins of God’s people.

Verse 2: Seeking to know God’s ways – even daily – is not enough. Righteousness and obedience are required. Jesus said much the same thing at the conclusion of His Sermon on the Mount:

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. Matthew 5:24-27

Verse 3 – 5: God is saying to His people, “What are you complaining about? What have you done for others; for the least of these? The fast I have chosen is not about you – what you do for, or to, yourself. Your fasting produces something that I will not bear.”

The issue of the fast is not the fast itself, but what the fast produces. This is an important paradigm shift. Fasting for self is not what God is after. There are more important things at stake.