There’s never a command in the Word of God that we cannot obey, no matter how difficult it seems, for God always empowers what He commands.
This is a quote from a devotional by Alistair Begg. Chew on it a little bit. Since I read this, I’ve mentioned it to friends, meditated on it, and talked to God about it. It’s so perfectly clear. It is perfectly true.
The Word of God holds many commands for us who believe. His Word is chock full. Every command for our good and for God’s glory. Let’s take the command of fear as an example. There’s a lot of that roaming among us all. Of course, we all say we’re not fearful, but our actions, our words, and emotional and spiritual states beg otherwise, so let’s look into that one.
In the Word, God has commanded us at least 365 times – do not be afraid, fear not, don’t-th be-th afraid-th. One command, 365 times. We often talk about how the things repeated in the Bible are the things we need to take note of. I’m thinking we need to take big note of this command and follow. But how, you say? I know, this one is a struggle.
The first step in beginning to follow the commands of the Lord is to recognize them. That can only be done through His Word. If you don’t know the Word, you can’t follow His commands. If you’re not following Jesus, you’re following a completely different set of commands, the worlds commands, and they lead to the City of Destruction. I think the second step is admitting that you’re not following a command. That’s a toughy. In our sample command, do not fear, it would look like admitting that we are fearful of something, of a few things, of most things. Fear is one of Satan’s most effective tools. Fear paralyzes us, it preoccupies us and distracts us, it puts us on an endless anxiety/depression cycle that’s hard to break, it breaks down our minds, it breaks down our bodies, it breaks down our spirits. Before we know it, if we allow fear to languish in our minds, we are completely broken down. Think about your life, your actions, your reactions, your words, your thoughts, your motives. Where do you see fear?
So, we know the Word of God so we can recognize His commands. Second, we admit we’re not following God’s Word. Next, we look and see how this lack of obedience is impacting our lives and the lives of those around us because we’re broken. Next…we seek a solution.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you have received God’s Spirit, when he adopted you as his own children…For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. Romans 8:12-15
If you are a believer, the solution lies within you at all times. Kind of sounds like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, doesn’t it? If we are children of God, His Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit, who lives within us, is our solution.
So we recognize, we admit, we look at the impact, we find the solution and then we just get to it, right? No. We cannot, in our own power, follow the commands God gave to us. But, we can tap into the Power that can.
God can apply the power of the Spirit within our lives to enable us to do what He’s commanded. Alistair Begg
How’s He do that?
This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Zechariah 4:6
There is no way we can follow God without keeping His commands and we cannot be obedient to God without His Spirit. His Spirit is who enables us to keep His commands and to be obedient to Him. The Holy Spirit living in us guides us, directs, protects us, intervenes, intercessors, loves, fills, carries. He is God living in us.
In looking at our sample command, fear, the Word of God says there is no way we can wish hard enough, think positive enough, block from our minds enough, take action on our own enough, fight enough, master our thoughts enough, come up with enough solutions on our own, change our circumstances enough, to overcome our fears.
We follow God’s command not by our power, not by our might, but by the Spirit of the Living God. That’s our action plan.
Lord, today may we take your yoke upon us and find rest for our souls. Show us today what it would look like to surrender our fears to you. You know them anyway. You see us struggling beneath the loads of them. Lord, we pray for You to cease our struggling, help us in your power to release those fears to You. You will not wrestle them away from us, Lord. But you do give us the power through the Holy Spirit to release them to you. In fact, Lord, you command us to and Lord you don’t command us to do anything that you have not enabled us to do — through Your power, Your strength. Holy Spirit fall afresh on us. Infuse us with Your wonder-working power to deflect the fiery arrows of the evil one who is constantly on the prowl. Lord, make us bold, make us strong to stand up against the fear. Lord, cause Satan to flee from our minds. Lord, hold us in Your humble and gentle arms and give us rest for our souls. Your yoke is light — Your yoke is Light! All praise to the One who is able to do more than we can ever think or imagine. Amen.
Amen!!