Ultimate Security: Finding a Refuge in Difficult Times (15 page)

Shortly thereafter, Jesus’ disciples came back with the food they had bought. This is what happened next:

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:31–34)

The disciples were amazed. They knew that when they had left to go into the town, Jesus had been hungry and in need of food. But now that they had returned with the food, He did not need to eat it. Where had He gotten food? Jesus gave them this remarkable answer:
“My food…is to do the will of him who sent me
[God the Father]
and to finish his work.”

What does physical food mean to us? It is our source of bodily strength and support. But Jesus said, in effect, “I have another source of nourishment that is not mere natural food. It is to do the will of God My Father. And when I do His will, that supplies Me with strength and vitality.” You see, in doing God’s will, Jesus was
absolutely secure.

Jesus’ entire motivation was to do
the will of God the Father.

Irresistible in the Will of God

In various places in the Gospels, we read how Jesus’ enemies tried to kill Him (before He was ultimately arrested and put to death on the cross). But they were unable to do so because it was not the will of God for Him to die in that way or at that time. For instance, in the book of John, we read,
“They
[His enemies]
tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come”
(John 7:30).

Jesus was not protected by a personal armed security force. To the natural eye, He was absolutely vulnerable. Yet no one could touch Him, because His time had not yet come. By being committed to do the will of God until that will was fulfilled in His life, Jesus was irresistible. How so? In the sense that His opponents were unable to resist Him as He moved forward in God’s plan.

The book of Luke records the following incident, which occurred in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth after He had spoken to the people in the synagogue and angered them by what He said:

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:28–30)

Again, Jesus did not have a human security force. Yet there was something about Him that made Him irresistible—unstoppable in the will of God. No one could lay hands on Him, and no one could destroy Him. Why? Once more, because He was committed to do the will of God. And until the will of God was fulfilled in His life, He could not be resisted.

Contrast the above incident at Nazareth with the scene in the garden of Gethsemane when the time had come for Jesus to be taken away and crucified. When the soldiers came to arrest Him, Jesus said,

The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. (Mark 14:41 nasb)

This betrayal and arrest could not have happened before the hour appointed by God the Father. Until that moment, Jesus was absolutely irresistible.

Equally Committed, Equally Irresistible

You and I can follow the pattern Jesus set in this regard. We can be equally invincible, or irresistible, if we are totally committed to, and united with, the will of God. If our motivation is to do God’s will, then we are as secure, as strong, and as irresistible in this world as the will of God the Father Himself.

It is important to understand that each one of us can be as committed to do God’s will as Jesus was. Psalm 40:7–8 is a prophetic picture of Jesus that is quoted about Him in Hebrews 10:7. However, this picture need not be a depiction of Jesus alone. If we will make the same decision and the same commitment, it can be a picture of each one of us, as well.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:7–8)

The writer of Hebrews explained that those words were fulfilled in Jesus. (See Hebrews 10:5–10.) In Psalm 40, Jesus was saying, prophetically,
“Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll.”
The
“scroll”
is the prophetic record of Scripture revealing the will of God in the course of Jesus’ life. His work, His destiny, and what was appointed for Him to do had all been set out for Him—and His purpose was to fulfill what had been written.

In a certain sense, this is like an actor in a play who has a part written for him in the script and whose responsibility it is to play that part. He does not need to think up his own lines or improvise; he is merely to express what the playwright has written as his part. The more perfectly the actor captures his part, the better an actor he is.

This is an illustration of what it means to do the will of God. Our “scenario” is already written for us, although we have to discover it. Paul wrote,
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”
(Ephesians 2:10). This verse describes the will of God for us. It is a scenario that is already prepared—not something to be improvised as we go through life.

Each one of us can be as committed to
do God’s will as Jesus was.

A Part Written for Your Life

I want you to understand that, in the scroll of God’s eternal book, there is a part written for your life. Your response should be to confess, like Jesus, “Lord, here I am. I have come to You, and I am committed to You. My whole purpose in life is to do what is written about me in the scroll of Your book.”

When you live your life with that intent, you are just as invincible and invulnerable as Jesus Himself was. No one could touch Him or stop Him, as long as He was walking out the part that had been written for Him in God’s script.

It is so important that you see this truth! You are God’s new creation in Christ, and He has chosen you to do something specific and significant to fulfill His plan in your generation. True security in this life comes from committing yourself to God, finding the role He has for you, and then carrying it out.

Would you like to respond to this opportunity for security right now? You can, with the simple prayer we looked at above. Here is what you can confess in response to the pattern Jesus has set for us:

Lord, here I am. I have come to You, and I am committed to You. My whole purpose in life is to do what is written about me in the scroll of Your book. Amen.

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HOW TO BE “IRRESISTIBLE”

Let us continue to explore the nature of the security that comes from fulfilling God’s will in our lives. I want to illustrate the same principle of “irresistibility” using an account from the life of Joshua, one of God’s servants in the Old Testament. In considering Joshua’s life, please absorb the fact that you can be irresistible, as well, if you will apply the principles outlined in this chapter.

Commissioned to Serve

Joshua had spent forty years in the wilderness serving Moses and being prepared to become a leader. When Moses died, Joshua—as God’s appointed successor—took over the leadership of Israel. These are the words with which God commissioned him:

Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west.
No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life
. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,
that you may be successful wherever you go
. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:2–9)

That was Joshua’s commission, given to him personally by the Lord.

Features of the Commission

There are some important features of the commission that are relevant to our lives today. The first is Joshua’s God-given assignment:
“You will lead these people to inherit the land”
(Joshua 1:6). In the previous chapter, we saw that there is a scroll in God’s book that has an assignment for each one of us—a part to play in God’s eternal plan. Joshua’s role was to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. We must therefore begin with this fact:
We have an assignment.
That is the basis for our security.

Second, we see that Joshua had a special source of strength that was dependent upon God’s Word.
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it”
(Joshua 1:8).

I have often interpreted this verse in the following way: “
Think
the law,
speak
the law,
act on
the law.” God’s Word is available to us, and the same principles apply exactly to us as they applied to Joshua. We must
think
God’s Word; we do so by meditating on it. Then, we must
speak
God’s Word; the power of His Word has to be in our mouths. Finally, we must
act
on
God’s Word; we must
“do everything written in it,”
or obey it. These are the basic requirements.

Third, on the basis of this commission to depend upon God’s Word, Joshua was again told to
“be strong and courageous”
(Joshua 1:9). Note that in verses 6, 7, and 9, the Lord gave the same admonishment to Joshua—three times altogether.

When God tells us to be strong and courageous, it is very encouraging and wonderful. We may rejoice, saying, “God has told me to be strong and courageous!” However, let me tell you something you need to know: God always tells us to be strong and courageous for a good reason! What is that reason? We are going to be in a situation where we are going to
need
strength and courage. So, while this command is encouraging, it is also a kind of warning. Just as Joshua needed to be strong and courageous to fulfill his God-given assignment, we also, in order to fulfill our God-given assignment, are going to have to be strong and courageous.

Finally, please note God’s promise to Joshua that, if he obeyed, God would be with him everywhere. God guaranteed His own personal presence with Joshua all the way through. He promised,
“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you”
(Joshua 1:5). And again:
“The
Lord
your God will be with you wherever you go”
(Joshua 1:9).

This promise is for us, also. If we meet God’s conditions, He says, “I will be with you all the way. I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” When all this has been established in our lives,
we become irresistible
. Joshua was irresistible, as we read in Joshua 1:5:
“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.”

Here is the important condition: The above is true for you only if you are walking in the will of God. If you are walking in the will of God, then anyone or anything that opposes you is actually opposing God. If you step out of God’s will, you lose that irresistibility. However, while you are in the will of God—walking out your God-given assignment; thinking, speaking, and acting on the Word of God; walking in obedience and total commitment—then this promise of God is just as true for you as it was for Joshua:
“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.”

We have an assignment—that is the basis for our security.

A Pattern of Principles

Let us now review the commission of Joshua as a pattern for us, so we will be sure to apply in our own lives the principles the Lord laid down for him. Let me suggest that there are three requirements we need to bear in mind, all of which are illustrated very clearly in Joshua’s experience.

First, we must base our lives on God’s Word. That was God’s instruction to Joshua:
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it”
(Joshua 1:8). Again, in summary, we must
think
the Word of God,
speak
the Word of God, and
act
on
the Word of God.

Second, we must be strong and courageous. God has made provision for us to be strong and courageous—it is the provision of the Holy Spirit. Paul said to his disciple Timothy,
“God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline”
(2 Timothy 1:7). If we walk in the power of Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, He excludes timidity, because there is no room for it. As we discussed in chapter 18, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit
“of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Third, we must advance and not retreat.
We cannot go back; we must go forward
. We should never focus on self-protection or self-preservation. We must focus on moving ahead in the will of God.

Jesus’ Authority Is Our Security

The following is the commission Jesus gave to His disciples:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18–20)