Run Hard After God

Paul wrote to Timothy, admonishing him to flee and pursue. He was to flee evil and pursue good. “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). He was to flee youthful temptations of the flesh and to flee false doctrine. Paul encouraged Timothy to adopt flight as a spiritual strategy. He laid out goals to run hard after: “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (1 Timothy 2:22).

Timothy is to flee "controversies and quarrels about words" lest he be sucked into useless arguments that are a waste of time. He was also to flee those who were promoting what is today called "the prosperity gospel," which saw the gospel as a way to make money. If we desire to be men and women of God, there are times we must run from evil and run in the other direction. Prosperity gospel is not new. It was around in Jeremiah’s day. It is a gospel that tells people what they like to hear not what God intends for them to hear. Prophets had prophesied in God’s name but not what God wanted them to say. They spoke what people wanted to hear. Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord.  “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:28-29). The true Word of God cannot be compared to a counterfeit.

Paul laid out six pursuits in three pairs: righteousness and godliness, faith and love and finally endurance and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11). Timothy is to pursue righteousness" and godliness. Righteousness refers to his relationship with God and godliness his relationship with people. Timothy must be honest with those with whom he deals. Vertically, he must pursue a godly life that comes from God alone.

Timothy was to pursue faith and love. Here, the emphasis is on faithfulness and love for others. Timothy is to be faithful and to remain faithful to the Lord, to his ministry, and to the people in his life. If he is not motivated by love, all will count for nothing. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that if he could speak like an angel, perform miracles, and even sacrifice his body, but did not have love, it would all count for nothing.

Timothy was to pursue endurance and gentleness.  These are especially important qualities. Endurance is a "won't quit" determination in the face of opposition. Gentleness is the quality of tender, patient self-control in dealing with people amidst the difficulties of ministry. Jesus had both endurance and gentleness. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Waiting on God

 

One of the most sinister enemies any of us will encounter is despair. Despair is debilitating in every way. It diminishes our motivation and our self-value. If you can’t see any purpose in going on, you stop living, and that is a dangerous place to be.

It is as if you are forced to enter a dark cave where no sunlight arrives. No feelings of hope can grow in that dark place. Here are a few examples of despair and depression: The teenager asks himself Is this all there is to life? “I’m always struggling to be accepted. I feel I have to prove myself to have friends. I’m getting really tired of living.” The college graduate who hasn’t been able to get a job asks, “Why did I bother to get an education? Why are all the doors closed? A young mother who is overwhelmed with taking care of a baby and two other children says, “I feel like I’m suffocating.” The disillusioned wife who files for divorce confesses, “If it wasn’t for my children, I wouldn’t hesitate to end my life.” The middle-aged man, disappointed with life, says, “I’ve failed at marriage, at business, and just about everything in between.” Now he hopes he won’t fail at this one thing—suicide.

God speaks to those in despair: Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? (Isaiah 40:27-31). Isn’t it amazing that what Isaiah writes about Israel is as relevant for us today as it was for them? He challenges us: “Why do you say to yourself that God doesn’t care about me?”

Isaiah knows we all falter, and we begin to think thoughts that are harmful to our spiritual life. He challenges those thoughts—even more, he challenges that pattern of thinking in our lives. He knows that the battle is won or lost in the mind. Isaiah has two more questions: “Do you not know?” and “Have you not heard? Judging from our actions, you must not know. From the way that some of us live our lives, we do not know God.

Seeing God from Isaiah’s perspective changes everything about the way we see God. God is Everlasting. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God (Isaiah 40:28). Our perspective of life is contingent on our narrow vision of what is going on. We exaggerate our problems and exhaust our energies on things that don’t matter because we can’t see the difference. Often, we panic when things don’t fall into place on our timetable. From our place in the universe, things look like a disaster, but from God’s eternal perspective, everything is on schedule.

How much of your frustration comes from unmet expectations? Really unimportant expectations. So much of what we worry and fret about is petty.  The one question that has been essential for Isaiah has been not what but who. It’s not what events shape history, but who shapes the events of history. Is the history of our world going toward something or just going in circles? Is the purpose and meaning of our lives totally up to us, or is God involved even in the day-to-day meaning of our lives?

God is the Creator. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Creator of the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28). I worked with a master carpenter for a time. It was a comforting thing to know that any question I had about carpentry, he could answer. In any project I was involved in, he was there. Multiply that same thought a trillion times, and you have the idea of Isaiah here. God is the Creator of the ends of the earth; he made everything. There is no place he is not, and no situation beyond the power of his reach. Anywhere life takes us or any situation that confronts us, he knows what we should do if we call on him.

God never grows weary. Do you not know? Have you not heard? He will not grow tired or weary (Isaiah 40:28). It seems like we are tired all the time. We are weary from work and life. We grow faint as our energy is exhausted. We have to rest to be restored. However, God is eternally inexhaustible, and his strength knows no end. His joy never ceases. His love and mercy are unfailing. God is always at work—even while we sleep.

God’s wisdom is unsearchable. Do you not know? Have you not heard? His understanding no one can fathom (Isaiah 40:28). It means that you and I waste our time trying to figure God out, but we will never be able to do that. Life is puzzling to us, often leaving us bewildered, but it never leaves God baffled. If we think we can see God’s hand in some event in our lives, believe me, there are many more ways God was working that we will never know.

God gives power to the weak. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak (Isaiah 40:29). Isaiah wanted Israel to know this God, who gives strength to the weary and power to the weak. Those who are physically weary of life, those who are mentally and emotionally and spiritually fatigued, those who are on the verge of quitting, can expect help from God. God has a way of renewing you that is beyond medical science. God renews our strength. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:30-31).

You and I are not capable of meeting the demands life puts on us. We will stumble and eventually fall in our own strength. Isaiah says God has made provision for our weary souls. God promises the weary that draw close to him strength and renewal in their time of need. “The weak soar like eagles and run without tiring and walk without quitting.” Their confidence in God will not let them lie down and give up. It’s not a matter of willpower but of expectancy.” How does this happen? But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; (Isaiah 40:31). Those who hope in the Lord or those who wait for the Lord.

This waiting is the key. It’s not about killing time; it means living in the expectancy of God with confidence that God will provide. “Be still, and know that I am God; (Psalm 46:10).

Waiting is not wasting time. It is a confident, disciplined, expectant, sometimes painful clinging to God. Waiting requires patient trust. Trapeze artists say the relationship between the flyer and the catcher is that the flyer lets go while the catcher catches. The flyer is told, “You must never try to catch the catcher, just wait to be caught.” That is Isaiah’s description of waiting on God.

 

Not So With You

In the pursuit of greatness, people are drawn to displays of pomp as a symbol of power and prestige. These displays of fashionable clothes, impressive modes of travel, and an abundance of self-confidence convey to the world that here is a winner. However, Jesus Christ introduced a radically different understanding of greatness. Jesus declared: “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

Absalom, David’s oldest son, had been brought back to Jerusalem after three years of exile and reinstated to his place. One would think that Absalom would be glad to be home and recognized by the king, but that was not the case. Absalom did not return with a humble attitude, but with the complete opposite. What is so strange is that Absalom was heir to the throne, but he never learned the value of delayed gratification. To wait for the time for his father to hand the throne to him was to wait an entire lifetime. He could not wait; he would not wait. He would make it happen in his time.

The reinstated prince took steps to develop his image. He needed a rebrand. “After this, Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him” (2 Samuel 15:1). The only purpose for all of this was to make Absalom look important and to impress the people. Chariots had no functional purpose in Jerusalem. But Absalom looked great parading with an escort of fifty men running ahead of him. 

“There is no problem with your complaint,” (2 Samuel 15:3).  Absalom would assure each person. “It’s a shame you won’t receive justice.” Why? Because “there is no man designated by the king to hear you”. The king clearly does not care enough about you to provide someone to see that your case is heard and dealt with. The point of all this was to provide a solution to everyone’s problem. Of course, Absalom was the solution!

Absalom had made some kind of bargain with the Lord while he was in exile. If the Lord would bring him back to Jerusalem and he was reinstated as the king’s son, then he would make an offering to the Lord (2 Samuel 15:7-8).

Absalom would be no one’s servant. He could only see himself as king. His outward expressions of submission to his father were insincere. If Absalom made a vow in Geshur, it was certainly not to serve the Lord.  Absalom requests permission to go to Hebron to make an offering to the Lord, and David grants it to him. Absalom was fomenting a revolt under David’s nose, and David did not see it. (2 Samuel 15:9).

Absalom’s methods had worked. He had won the people and stolen one of David’s chief advisors, Ahithophel, “And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing” 2 Samuel 15:12). This is the way of Absalom. Now listen to the way of Jesus. How different are the ways of Absalom from the ways of Jesus?

Luke 22:24-27 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.