Welcome!
Passage: Gen 6, NIV 84 ; Acts 6, NIV 84
Today: A God of no confusion!
9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. (Gen 6, NIV 84)-emphasis added
Why is there so much (leadership) confusion among us today, in our churches / organizations? We better find out! The God I know, is not a God of confusion!
God called Noah very specifically for a specific purpose/job
God did not call another person for the same job; God does not do that!
God knows what He is doing and who He will be using; God will anoint that person with power, knowledge and wisdom needed for that job
When the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 in the upper room, (Acts 2) God specifically anointed Peter with unique leadership qualities; there was no conflict of leadership there!
They were in prayer together, for ten days!
They did not cast any lots or votes after that; they did cast a lot for replacement of Iscariot, but that was before they received the spirit. (If they had waited a little bit, God would have shown them the right person, just one person, I believe!)
There was obviously a division in the group, because two different names came up!
May be, it took ten days for them to clear all differences and achieve full unity so that the Spirit of God could come upon all of them!
In many cases, if leaders were willing to wait a little bit- allowing “the other person” to go ahead for now, God would act, giving that (waiting) person a stronger and lasting position; but when leaders jump and grab positions, it will be shaky and won’t last. I have seen many cases like that!
Today, we have no time to pray before or after the event(s); before the so called “election”, people are busy canvassing; after the election, it is time to thank and celebrate!
I wish we adopt the model of the early church, in Acts 6
6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6, NIV 84) – emphasis added
If the goal is the growth of the church in the right direction, leaders will be willing to make sacrifices. The apostles did not run around doing everything, but focused on prayer and the ministry they were called for. They did not even hand-pick their favorite guys, like many do today; see phrases like “This proposal pleased the whole group”, “choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom”, etc.
The church selected real anointed people with wisdom (unlike many cases today!)
May God continue His work among those who listen and obey the will of God!
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to know the value of the great price you paid, and to live in the true love and fear of God, doing things as you would want us to do. Help us to see the work of the Holy Spirit among us, like in the early church! Amen
When we handle God’s things God’s way, God gets the glory and we get the blessing; when we handle it our way, we get the glory and loose the blessing!