3.1.11 "What Am I Doing Wrong?"

"What Am I Doing Wrong?"

Leviticus 24:1-25:46
Mark 10:13-31
Psalm 44:9-26
Proverbs 10:20-21


"The great thing about being a Christian is that ALL your problems go away! There's never a trial that comes! It's always happy and there's flute music and birds chirping and everything!" -- sounds like campaign rhetoric, doesn't it....

In Mark 10 Peter says, "We've given up everything to follow you." Jesus answers, "Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything - home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property - for love of me and to tell others the Good News, who won't be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecution."

Woohoo! When we give up for God we get it all back!!!

Wait a minute... did Jesus say, "... with persecution."? Does that mean trials DO come?? There IS pain??

So often it's in our nature to want the quick fix. We want the trial to just go away. We figure there MUST be a "formula" out there than can fix this. If we have a problem, we figure we MUST be doing something wrong.

Believe it or not, you can be doing everything right and still see no release from the trial. This is shown in today's Psalm.

"I am constantly despised, mocked, taunted and cursed by my vengeful enemies. And all this has happened, Lord, despite our loyalty to you. We have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you! We have not left your path by a single step. If we had, we could understand your punishing us in the barren wilderness and sending us into darkness and death. If we had turned away from worshiping our God, and were worshiping idols, would God not know it? Yes he knows the secrets of every heart. But that is not our case. For we are facing death threats constantly because of serving you! We are like sheep awaiting slaughter.

"Waken! Rouse yourself! Don't sleep O Lord! Are we cast off forever? Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our sorrows and oppression? We lie face downward in the dust. Rise up, O Lord, and help us. Save us by your constant love." (Ps. 44:15-26)

One of our biggest problems is that we connect ourselves to our "trials". We make the trial about "me". "Lord, fix this for me." "Lord, help me to be more comfortable." We forget the beloved phrase, "It's not about you."

God works in all circumstances with the purpose of bringing glory to his name. There may be times that the trial I am in is to serve a purpose that has absolutely nothing to do with me. I think I fall into the trap sometimes of thinking that God's greatest concern should be my comfort. That's a distorted theology that has me a little too close to being the object of worship.

Don't get me wrong. There are times that the "mess" we're in is a direct result of disobedience. We need to be repentant and seek the face of God and ask him to restore things according to his will. But in all things, we need to remember that our goal is the DEATH of our flesh, not the PLEASURE of our flesh. Through EVERY trial, we need to ask God to mould us into who he wants us to be. MOST of the time, there are elements of our character that the Lord is working on.

Remember Job 13:15, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." Job did not sin before the Lord, yet the trial was very real. His friends all approached him with the "formulas" and the "you need to"'s, but that wasn't what it was all about.

We open the door to frustration and doubt when we forget that it's not about formulas and quick fixes. As we mature in Christ, the trials will most likely intensify from the outward sense, but inwardly our flesh is dead, and the trial has a decreasing impact on us.

If I am a Dead Man Walking, what can any circumstance do to me? Nothing can shake my trust, my faith, my love for the Lord.

Searching our hearts for impure thoughts and motives does need to be our FIRST priority. But sometimes after doing that our prayer needs to be, "Lord, I've laid myself bare before you, and I believe that I have been walking in obedience to your command, and that my heart is right before you. If there's something I've missed, please bring it to light. Make me into who you want me to be."

Through all of that, we understand what it really means to live a "Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship". Our relationship with the Lord is one of intimacy in all things regardless of what the enemy may throw at us.

"What am I doing wrong?" The answer may be "Nothing. Just enjoy your time with the Lord through your trial!"


Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

Pastor Greg Lathe

Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship
Relationships Devoted to Unity
Empowered Through Biblical Training
Active Ministry Involvement
Mission to Reach our World for Christ