Your Entrusted Circumstance

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello again radio friends, how in the world are you? Doing alright? Yes, this is your friend, Dr. Cook and I’m so glad to be with you to share from the Word of God, to put a handle on it so that you can get hold of it for yourself. Come with me to Colossians the first chapter. Paul speaks about his position in relationship to the body of Christ, the church, and he says, “I rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is left behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church. Whereof,” the church, the whereof there refers to the church, “Of that church I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his saints to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery now among the gentile nations. What is it? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom in order that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

I am made a minister. Now, what is his function as a minister? First of all, the basis of it is the dispensation of God given to me for you to fulfill the word, that’s the purpose, the plan and purpose, the expressed will of God. I’m gonna think about that with you for a moment because every one of us has a ministry. Our Lord Jesus said, “He that would be great among you let him be your minister.” And Paul said, we then as the ministers of God beseech you that you receive not the grace of God in vain. Every saint has a ministry according to the book of Ephesians. The work of the pastor is to perfect or perfect, if you wanna put it that way, perfect the saints for the work of the ministry. Every blood-bought born from above believer has a ministry to fulfill. That is my basic assumption here. Now, if you go with that then let’s come on. He said I’m made a minister according to the dispensation of God given to me for you to fulfill the expressed plan and purpose and will of God and His Word. Your ministry, what is it? Well, it’s sharing God with people at the point of their need. Sharing God with people at the point of their need. Where you sense a need on the part of an individual and you reach out to that person and share with them at that point, the power and blessing and truth of God implemented by human compassion and helpfulness.

You can’t minister to people and be cold-hearted toward them. So it takes compassion. You can’t minister to people and be selfish toward them, so it takes generosity and helpfulness. Withal, what you do is based upon your faith in the Lord Jesus and your commitment to his eternal Word. You minister to people by sharing God with them at the point of their need, as you help to meet their need.

Now, he says this ministry is a dispensation of God given to me. Had you stopped to think beloved, that the position in which you are right now in life is something God has given you. Now some of you are in difficult circumstances and you’re apt to snort a little and say, “Come on now Dr. Cook. It’s easy for you to talk but you should be in the position I have to be in. You don’t know about my job problems. You don’t know about the way I hurt in my body. You don’t know about my in-laws. You don’t know about the pressures under which I have to live and you’re telling me that what I’m in is God’s gift to me?” Well, now it all depends on from where you’re coming. If you’re coming to this discussion as a person living on his own apart from God, I don’t blame you for complaining.

But if you’ve given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and you are trusting him to lead you step-by-step, and if you know for a fact that you are a member of the family of God, a dear child of God bought by the precious shed blood of Christ, Peter says, “for as much as ye know ye were not redeemed by corruptible things such as silver and gold and your vain conversation received by tradition from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he verily was foreordained of God but manifest in these last times for you who by him to believe in God.” that’s Peter’s rendition of it. He said, you are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, begotten again unto a living hope you are a member of the family of God and you share in the purpose of God if you have made the Lord Jesus Christ your Lord and trusted him as your Savior, right? If that be so, then where you are and what you are and the circumstances in which you are constitute God’s framework of ministry for you. And you can manifest Him and share Him and shine for Him and love other people for His sake within that framework because it’s the dispensation of God given to you for other people.

Now Paul the Apostle was writing these words in a situation that was not at all pleasant, you have to remember that. He was not on a Sunday school picnic when he wrote these words, he was in prison. So that this is no Pollyanna pie-in-the-sky kind of a thing nor is it a plea for you to sort of kid yourself along to thinking that things are better than they really are. The Bible is a very realistic book and Paul the apostle among others, was certainly a realist and he viewed facts as they truly are. Granted all that he says, “I rejoice in my sufferings for you because it’s part of God’s gift to me for you.” Oh, hey, that’s something, isn’t it?

Now today, where are you? Where are you coming from in this discussion? What are your circumstances? What are your heartaches? What are your problems? What are your frustrations? Oh, there’s a single parent who’s struggling to bring up a rebellious teenager. Look at it not as a harassing, frustrating relationship but as an opportunity for God to work. Remind him every moment of the day, Lord, this is your chance to work.

There’s a person who’s job situation is not only precarious but painful. You don’t know when, any moment you may either be transferred out or downright fired, nobody seems to understand. And even while you’re doing your best, you get constantly criticized and you’re upset about the whole thing. Look up and say, “Lord this is your chance to work.” Give God a chance to minister through you in the difficulties. Oh, beloved, that’s one of the biggest truths that you will ever get hold of. I pray that that may be real to somebody today. You don’t have to suffer along and say, “Oh, this is terrible that I have to go through this.” instead, you can say, “Blessed Lord, I don’t like it much but this is a chance for you to work. This is a chance for you to minister through me. This is a chance for you to prove, dear Father, that you’re real in my life.” And then let Him do it. The dispensation of God given to me for you. Now remember anything that you have by way of blessing is not for your sake but for others.

Yes, God loves you and He loves to pour out His peace and joy upon you. Paul says in Romans 15, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.” God loves to do that for you. But the blessings that are poured out upon you are not for your sake, ultimately, but for others. The dispensation of God given to me, says Paul, for you. Had you thought of your situation in terms of your impact upon other lives? Had you thought of your situation in terms of its impact upon other lives for God? It has to be admitted, most of us try to just, somehow to get through the day. And if we’re in a position of pressure and challenge or frustration and pain we start to look at the circumstances and think, “Oh boy, I hope I can get through this.” Now instead of that realize that what you’re going through is not for you, but for somebody else.

I remember hearing a teenager say many years ago at the back end of the Billy Sunday tabernacle at Winona Lake, Indiana. It was during the Bible quizzes that were then in vogue. And some of my own family were involved in a Bible quiz up on the platform. My two older girls were quizzers, there they were jumping up and answering questions. And here at the back of the tabernacle there was a teenager about their same age, who had been not just only drifting but had been quite belligerent in her attitude toward things spiritual. And when she saw these quizzers, she remarked half aloud to nobody in particular, “Well, if they can do it, I can do it too.” And that, I was told, was the turning point in her own life.

Now, this is the purpose, beloved, for God’s trusting you with the circumstances in your life. Somebody is watching you and that somebody needs to be inspired to say, “If she can do it, I can do it too. If she can trust God, I can trust Him.” If God can bring her or him or them through this situation, then He can bring me through as well. If God can deliver that person, He can deliver me.

This is the purpose for which God is trusting you with the experiences you presently are going through. Do you believe that? Can you receive it, beloved? Can you make it your own? God is trusting you with experiences that will have an impact upon other people because somebody is watching you right now to see how you react under pressure. Oh, may your reaction to pressure, may your positive Christianity beyond that reaction be an inspiration to someone else to say, I too want to yield my life to the almighty Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, today, help us share our lives with others for the impact that it can make for God, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!