"Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of; the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.” Genesis 6:14-16
We train, practice, and perfect our individual skills, so on the day that we are given a job God needs for us to accomplish we are up to the task. Imagine for a moment being Noah. God informs Noah that he has to build an Ark. He neglects to tell Noah that it will take him 100 years to build a vessel he has never seen before—an ark; for a weather condition he has never experienced—rain; and, for an event he has never witnessed—flooding! All of course, to the ridicule of his ungodly neighbors who probably believed he was a little crazy. After all, they had never seen any of these things either! Yet, Noah continued to listen and obey God’s instructions.
I recently listened as a popular pastor grumbled about the behavior of a few members of his congregation, hurling one insult after another because he felt betrayed and under siege. His anger stemmed from one or more of his members “squealing” to city inspectors about some illegal building practices he employed in order to rebuild their church. He felt betrayed by these members, and maybe rightly so. Here's my dilemma. God spoke with Noah so closely that He gave Noah the architectural plans for building an ark. He gave the specific dimensions, the materials, and even told him who the passengers would be on the ark. Do you really believe that if God wants you—no, needs you, to do something extraordinary, that you will need to commandeer, finagle, wrangle, or break laws in order to get His task accomplished.
Using any type of covert strategy is an act of fear, not an act of God. When we look at the life of Jesus, our prime example, He never committed a sin or a crime. He never finagled, wrangled, or commandeered to get His tasks accomplished. As our greatest Teacher, He did not spend God’s time berating his followers; He was too busy teaching the masses, training and developing their hearts to follow God. God, our Father, who has all and commands all, who operates in Spirit and in Truth could not and would not condone any illegal activity in His own name, no matter what the cost. Only human doubt can tempt us to force an issue that should easily flow. Today, know that if God has given you a task to complete, you will not have to use covert actions to get it accomplished, His Will, will be done. L.
Study Reference: Genesis 6:14-20
From: "Illegality for God?" In The Master's Hands: 365 Daily Devotions For Everyday Living.
Copyright © 2014 by Lavona E. Campbell
photo: Lili Bay