Is it possible to become so dependent on our previous experience and understanding of God in our lives that we become blinded to new things? There are Christians who can recount with elaborate detail how they were first saved. But when asked what God has been doing in their lives lately, they are silent.
Faith is dynamic! Fellowship with God is a new adventure every day. Our Christian walk is a process. Lam. 3:23 tells us that His mercies are new every morning. Six times in the Psalms, we are told that God will put a new song in our heart. I hear a lot about the old songs. How about singing an old song in a new way?
In 1 Chron. 12, Israel found itself in a very important time of transition. The question on everyone’s mind was, “Do we follow the house of Saul, or, do we follow the house of David?”
It was customary for the children of the king to inherit the throne when the king died. Jonathan was the rightful heir, but Samuel is telling the people that God had him anoint David to be king. Not every tribe was ready to accept David as king. But our text says in v.32, “Men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” NIV
God was moving the throne from the house of Saul to the house of David. But not everyone was ready for the new king. Some of the people were hung up on tradition, saying, “We’ve never done it this way before.” Others were saying, “A new king? What was wrong with the old one?” Not so with the tribe of Issachar.
Isn’t that the key to success? To find out what God is doing and get in step with Him? To find out what God wants to accomplish and become co-labors with Him? To let Him be Head of our church? To let Him lead us in the way He wants us to go?
Isa 43:16-19
16 This is what the LORD says– he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past,
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (NIV)
The men of Issachar were wise and discerning men. Their vision reached out beyond themselves. They understood what God wanted to do, not only spiritually, but politically and socially. This is what it will take for a church to be successful as the Lord tarries His return.
Thank God for history, and thank God for yesterday. But do we have an understanding of the times in which we are living today?
What God did for you yesterday is only the beginning of what God is wanting to do for you today. Believe me, God is up to something. Let’s find out what it is.
That’s my view of things.