Such a Time - Part 3

Introduction
Over the last couple of weeks we have looked at stepping into “Such a time as This”. We don’t always know when that time will be. But God has a good plan and purpose for each one of us. So far we've looked at the stages of the journey –prepare-serve-know the season, take the risk. We've talked about how It doesn’t always work out how we expect, make each day count and focussing on what we have rather than focussing on our perceived lack. These are all important.

This week we look at some things we need to do to make the most of our journey towards destiny. We will look today at our need to develop who we are personally as we move into destiny and purpose, our "Such a Time".

1. Listen
This means we really listen – to God and to wise counsel. There are many things clamouring for our attention. What we listen to will affect our ability to step into our destiny. To Listen, according to the dictionary, means - to pay heed to. What we listen to (heed or pay attention to) either helps us or hinders us. Who we listen to will either encourage us forward or drag us backwards.

Proverbs 1:1-5
1 These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.
2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
    to help them understand the insights of the wise.
3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
    to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
    knowledge and discernment to the young.
5 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.
    Let those with understanding receive guidance

When we listen to the right thing we are wise. It is wise to listen to what God has to say to us. When God says listen carefully – we should listen carefully!

Prov 4:20
My Child pay attention to what I have to say

Isaiah 55:3
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open.
    Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
    I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

God says – listen – take note. Prov 8;9 is all about listening to wisdom. It is worth our while to listen and to listen well to what God is saying. After listening to God, we also listen to wise counsel – not just the counsel of our friends but wise counsel, from people who have your best interest at heart.

Not everything you hear that sounds wonderful is good for you and not everything that you hear that you don’t like is bad for you. Many of us don’t like it when we are corrected – but it is good for us. People may flatter us with nice words, but flattery is actually death to us. People often flatter so they can manipulate.

Listen to what is good for you even when it is hard to hear. When we truly listen we grow in the grace and knowledge of God and when we do that we will step closer to our destiny. When we listen to God, he guides us and directs us so that we can walk according to his purpose and not be driven by the voices of others, the needs of others, or the manipulation of others. Instead, we will live according to God and seek his purpose. This leads us closer to our purpose and our destiny.

What are you choosing to listen to?
Who are you choosing to listen to? Is it helpful for you?
Are we listening to God and to wise counsel? (Not people who are living in failure, but those who have not failed or failed and overcome?)

2. Learn
When we listen, we learn about ourselves; we learn about God; we learn about life and about God's purpose.
The dictionary defines learn as:
learn  - verb
1. to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience: to learn French; to learn to ski.
2. to become informed of or acquainted with; ascertain: to learn the truth.
3. to memorize: He learned the poem so he could recite it at the dinner.
4. to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like; acquire: She learned patience from her father.
5. (of a device or machine, especially a computer) to perform an analogue of human learning with artificial intelligence.

His purpose does not just fall from the sky. It is there to be walked in, but it is placed before us and we can choose to engage it or not. Esther could have chosen not to engage her “such a time” and it would have ended in her death. She listened to God and to wise counsel. She learnt from that, and grew in her understanding of what she must do to engage he destiny.

There is wisdom in learning. Unfortunately, some of us are spiritually slow learners, either because we choose not to learn, or because we don’t want to do the hard yards. God gives us lessons but we forget to learn from them. Jesus often said to his disciples – learn this lesson. When we are dealing with things, when God is giving us a lesson we can choose to engage in learning or be stupid.
We can ask ourselves:
What is God saying to us?
What does that mean for me?
What lesson is God teaching me, that he wants me to understand?

When God says to seek his purpose, are we learning what that purpose is? Proverbs tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.

Proverbs 1:7
7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

It might be blunt, but are we choosing the knowledge of God, or are we acting like a fool?

Matthew 13:12
To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.

Knowledge is about learning and gaining understanding about God and his Kingdom. But it is more than that.
Knowledge of God is not just “head” learning – it is knowledge of God that comes from a relationship with him. It means learning about him, but more importantly learning from him.

When we choose to listen and learn, we will be given a greater understanding of God, his Kingdom and our part in his Kingdom purpose. Learn from God; he is the best teacher. We can also learn from others, from their wise counsel and from their experiences. Lessons and stories about people in the Bible are not just there for the sake of history. They are placed there to teach us and so we can learn from them.

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

We are meant to engage in the learning process; to discover what is right; and to work on those things in us that are not right! Learning is about equipping; it is being equipped to undertake the next step. We talk about equipping people to do the job or the task at hand. It’s about learning and engaging, getting the right tools and knowing how to use them. We learn from God, from the lives of others and we learn from history. God expects us to learn. Here are some Scriptures that highlight this.

Proverbs 8:9,10
9 My words are plain to anyone with understanding,
    clear to those with knowledge.
10 Choose my instruction rather than silver,
    and knowledge rather than pure gold.

Proverbs 10:14
14 Wise people treasure knowledge,
    but the babbling of a fool invites disaster

Proverbs 23:12
12 Commit yourself to instruction;
    listen carefully to words of knowledge.

Proverbs 22:17
17 Listen to the words of the wise;
    apply your heart to my instruction.

Proverbs 24:5
5 The wise are mightier than the strong,
    and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.

Learning enables us to engage with destiny and purpose because it heads us in the right direction. Learning enables us to address character flaws and personality difficulties. You are who you are, but you can become who you are meant to be, by engaging with God and in the process of learning about him and from him. Ask yourself:

How well am I seeking to gain knowledge and understanding?
Am I placing myself in a position where I can engage in learning about God, and from God?
What will I do t start engaging with the learning process?

3. Apply
God not only asks us to learn, but to apply that learning to our life.
Apply means:To bring into action – to employ

Learning only becomes truly active in our lives when we apply it to our life. This is true for all learning. A person can spend years at Uni learning and understanding but it is applying that learning that has an effect in the real world. E.g a teacher, a scientist, a business man must all apply knowledge or else their learning is of little value.

Workshops and seminars are a great example. I wonder how many people go to these, learn a lot from them, say how great they are and then don’t apply what they learn from them. Coaching works on the same principle – it’s a great way to discover and learn things about yourself, but it is useless if you don’t apply it. We make lots of excuses for not applying things to our lives but basically we don’t do it either because we are stubborn and self-centred or, and this is most likely, we simply don’t plan to put it into practice. We are not deliberate about what we do.

Knowledge without application is useless. A sportsman may have all the knowledge about a sport, have mastered the tactics etc., but unless its applied through participation, it is useless. You don’t have to know everything. Just apply to your life what you do know, and you will begin to place yourself in the purpose of God, and find that more opportunity and more understanding will come your way.

Moses had his staff, he knew what to do with it, but none of the miracles in Egypt would have happened if he hadn’t applied what he knew. Joshua was given instructions on how to beat Jericho: he knew what they were, he learned the strategy, but he had to apply the strategy to gain victory over Jericho. He listened to God; he learnt the strategy; he applied the strategy. Esther listened to Godly advice. She sought God and listened and applied the strategy even though she knew she would risk her life in doing so.

The apostle Peter encourages us to take hold of what we know, God's precious promises, and to apply them to our lives. He tells us that by doing so, we will be more productive.

2 Peter 1:3-11
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are short-sighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
10 So, dear brothers and sisters,[a] work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This is listening, learning and applying. Applying takes effort but it is worth it. When we apply what we know, when we are deliberate in applying our knowledge to life, we will be productive and we will open opportunities for our future.

What knowledge do you have that you know God is calling you to apply to your life or a situation right now?
What stops you from applying it?

Make the changes necessary to apply what you know.

Conclusion
Destiny and purpose await us. We can move towards our destiny or away from it. We have that choice. Lets embrace destiny, God's destiny for us by:
Listening to God – to his direction, to his counsel, and seeking and listening to good and Godly advice
Learning – from what you have heard, gaining insight and understanding, seeking to know God more, and to learn from him, not just about him, and equipping yourself to walk in destiny and purpose.
Applying – applying what you know – actually doing the hard yards that puts words, knowledge and learning into action

This leads to engaging God’s purpose, walking in his destiny and stepping into your “Such a time”