by Jeffrey Bush

“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” Psalm 119:135

It’s probably safe to say that almost every one of God’s children wants to walk in God’s path. The Psalmist speaks much about his desire to be taught and to walk in the path of God, and I believe this reflects the heart of all of God’s children. Yet, God’s path is not always so clear or straightforward. Let’s think through a few principles about the path of God, and determine to stay on the path He has put us on. 

Looks Different than You Anticipated

When speaking about God’s ways in general, Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” You may think the path God has for you is a big ministry or staying in one spot all of your life, but God’s way and God’s path might not be even close to what you envision. 

Takes Longer than You Anticipated

In 2 Peter 3:8, it says, “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” The point is that God’s timing and your timing are not the same. Life is frail and time is limited, which is the exact opposite of the Lord. When you look at the life of Moses, you see his first forty years in Egypt, his next forty years in the desert learning what God had for him, and the next forty years leading Israel. It’s easy to look at that format and plan how you want to divide up your life, planning where you should be and what you should be doing at certain times. The only problem is, God might not do it that way. God may leave you in a place much longer than you want. God’s path is different and may take longer than you anticipated. 

Psalms 27:13-14 says, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” God might leave you on the path longer than you anticipated, but learn to wait on Him… and then be of good courage, and wait more on Him. Life is not like a movie changing from action packed moments to romance scenes and back to action. In fact, much of life seems to be just normal living with very few high points. You might want God to give you lots of action and adventure, but His path might take you on a route taking longer or leaving you longer than you desire. 

Appears Harder than You Anticipated

In Hebrews 12, it begins the chapter saying to “run with patience the race that is set before us,” (vs. 1) and it continues using the word, “striving” (vs. 4). This exhortation comes on the heels of Hebrews 11, where there’s a list of difficulties the servants of God went through (vs. 33-38). God never promised an easy path for His followers. In fact, He said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). 

If it was up to you, you would probably choose the easy path, or at least the path of least resistance and pain. But the God who knows best might send you on a path that is harder than you anticipated.

But is Always Better than You Anticipated

Though the path God has for you might be different, take longer, and is harder than anticipated, rest assured that His plan is always best. You know this in theory, but you must remind yourself of this truth on a regular basis. The eternal promise is that, “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). God’s way is always the best way!

by Jeffrey Bush

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” — Jude 24

“Keep you from failing.” What an amazing phrase! God, the Creator of the world and sustainer of your soul, “is able to keep you from falling.” This is a reason to rejoice! I don’t want to fail. You don’t want to fail. I want to make it to the end of my life faithfully serving God. I don’t want to fail in my marriage. I don’t want to fail with my kids. I don’t want to eliminate myself from serving the Lord. I am weak and the temptations are strong. I can’t do it alone, and neither can you. But the key to success is revealed in this verse. You cannot avoid failure because you’re smart or slick. It is God that “is able to keep you from falling.” Cry out to Him, for He will both rescue and be your refuge. He will set your feet upon the rock. He will rejuvenate your soul. He will give you the wisdom, strength, power, and purpose. Do you want to avoid failure? Stay focused and stay in tune with the One who “is able to keep you from falling.”  

by Jeffrey Bush

“And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” — 1 Kings 19:10, 14

We are very familiar with this portion of Scripture, the moment when Elijah was running from Jezebel and hiding in a cave. He becomes very discouraged, and we find some insight about the topic. God has him rest, eat, rest, and eat some more. Though the passage continues on, and God speaks to Him, there’s wisdom in the taking care of the physical aspects as well as the spiritual. There’s a time to rest, a sabbath for your body, and a needed replenishment, or there will certainly be more discouragement. 

But in this specific verse, Elijah has an attitude problem that affects his present and his future. He says, “I, even I only, am left.” He is convinced that he is the only one living for God. God is going to answer his complaint, but only after Elijah is told his punishment for his attitude. God doesn’t seem to overlook his attitude, and though it seems harsh, Elijah is told to replace himself with Elisha. Self-pity usually ends in self-destruction. 

We would be wrong to conclude that God will have us replaced when we have a pity party, but we would be wise to not forget this specific example. God is a forgiving and merciful God, but it is clear that there are times when God says that’s enough. God requires more from those He uses. Yes, there are times everyone gets discouraged, feels bad, and even wants to quit, but don’t stay long in the tailspin or it will take you down. God encourages and lifts His servants, but there are apparently times that He says it is enough. Be careful not to think you are the only one. Be careful not to believe that your life is the most difficult. If the Lord is truly your Shepherd, your complaints are ultimately against Him. God still has the seven thousand that have not bowed the knee (vs. 18), but Elijah’s attitude caused him to believe he was the only one. His attitude was to his detriment. Self-pity = self-destruction.

by Jeffrey Bush

Sometime back my missionary friend reminded me of an obvious yet forgotten fact: the population is larger than it’s ever been, yet there are far fewer missionaries than in past generations. I chewed on it for the next few weeks, and it bothered me. I want to offer very specifically to my missionary friends how we can do something about the great need and few laborers. Below are areas of consideration if we are proactively to pick up the mantle of responsibility and see more laborers:

1. Our Preaching

A pastor has the responsibility to feed his sheep, but a missionary gets one introduction and one opportunity to challenge people in church. There are so many wonderful things to preach on, but as a missionary, you must realize God has sent you to a church (whether deputation or furlough) to inform and ignite a burden within these fellow believers. You don’t get to return next week to follow up, so be intentional with your visit to show the need and ask prayer for more laborers. The church knows your need of support, the pastor has you visiting for that specific purpose, but God might have an individual in the congregation that needs that invitation/challenge to go. 

One book I read said that, after talking to a large gathering of retired and senior missionaries, he asked them what age they felt the call of God to become a missionary. The typical age was eight years old! My wife, Mindy, surrendered when she was around eight years old. Where do you think these young people saw missions? When missionaries came by and visited their church. Please do not neglect to preach with a passion in your heart to see future laborers raised up. 

2. Our Children

Not every missionary kid will grow up to be a missionary, but we cannot deny the fact that it is more probable for an MK to have the desire, knowledge, and leading of God to be a future missionary. MK’s grow up helping their parents in ministry at a very young age. They most likely speak more than one language and know more than one culture. Their hearts are most likely more sensitive to the Lord, His work, and the global need for the Gospel. While a parent should never force ministry upon their children, they would be wise to pray and speak to their children about serving God as a missionary. Children love and look up to their parents, and it is very likely that God wants you as parents to help these little disciples as He might lead them to be future missionaries. 

3. Our Prayers 

We are all very aware of the obvious truth that “we have not because we ask not.” (James 4:2). Are we asking and believing God will raise up future missionaries? When Jesus mentioned the great need and lack of laborers, He stated that we should start with praying to the Lord of the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). When we pray, it seems to open our heart about the need, our eyes to look around and consider, and cause us to depend on God to separate out future laborers. 

4. Our Emphasis

You can only focus on so much. When you get the opportunity to converse with others on the road, you can must be specific about what you discuss. Nothing wrong with working out, playing sports, enjoying a movie, reading good books, and enjoying some good food, but make your emphasis about God’s work. What do your social media posts reveal about you? What is the underlying message in your prayer letters? You and others know what your emphasis is by what you spend your time on, what you talk about, what you love, and where your money is. Your words, actions, posts, texts, and conversations should reveal your emphasis.

by Jeffrey Bush

Recently, I heard a statement that made me think. It went something to the effect of “It’s more important what you become than what you accomplish.” In other words, God cares more about what you become for Him than what you do for Him. I believe the same can be said about all those closest to you. Your spouse, children, and those you serve would rather see your faithfulness instead of your fruitfulness. By all means, work at being fruitful and accomplishing much, but don’t do it at the cost of your integrity and losing those around you. Below, I want to share a few areas in which we should focus on “becoming” as opposed to “accomplishing.”  

1. Continue Growing — Ecclesiastes 10:10; 2 Peter 2:1-2

In your spiritual life, keep growing. In your marriage, as a parent, as a friend, and in every area of God-given responsibility, continue growing. Don’t become satisfied when God has given you tools to grow into a better and stronger individual for the Lord. 

2. Stay Sensitive — Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19

God speaks about not grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit. Our words and actions can hurt our Heavenly Father, and they can hurt others as well. Stay sensitive to seeing the needs of those around you. Stay sensitive to the fact that people are in need of a Savior, people are hurting, your family needs you, and God wants to speak to you. Life can beat you up, but do not become cold, calloused, and calculated that you lose a sweet and sensitive spirit. Stay sensitive if you want to become who God wants you to become. 

3. Be Consistent — 1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians 6:9

There’s certainly a need to change and improve, but be consistent when it comes to what is right and righteous. God warns about those who are “given to change.” (Proverbs 24:21). Unstable, inconsistent people will hurt themselves and those around them. Be consistent in working hard, loving others, following Christ, staying in His Word, and doing what He has placed in front of you. It’s easy to quit, give up, walk away, and pick up the next novelty, but be consistent where God has placed you. 

4. Discipline Self — 1 Corinthians 9:27; Hebrews 12:11

Discipline is doing what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Desire might kickstart you, but discipline will keep you going when the desire fades away. Discipline is needed to accomplish something but also to avoid becoming what you should not become – lazy, careless, apathetic, unloving, hardened, and unfocused. Discipline yourself not to lose track of what God has placed in front of you, what your responsibilities are, and what matters in life. Don’t let your emotions drive you. Stay disciplined and do what’s right, no matter the effort or time required. Discipline yourself to become what God wants you to become. 

It’s a mirage to work like crazy to accomplish the goal and knock down anything in your way to attain that goal. While you should most certainly work hard, if you prioritize being who you should be, the accomplishments will most likely take care of themselves.

by Jeffrey Bush

“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.” (Proverbs 19:11)

Discretion is the quality of behaving or speaking in such a manner to be careful not to offend someone or reveal private information. It’s carefulness, caution, tactfulness, or diplomacy. And it’s this mindset that causes a person to defuse the bomb of anger instead of causing it to ignite quicker and with more damage. A person’s discretion will allow them to put off their anger.

On the same token, a man’s honor (glory) is to pass over an offense or wrongdoing. Has anyone ever wronged you? Has anyone ever offended you? It is honorable to let it go instead of retaliating. The next time you are offended or done wrongly, be honorable instead of horrific. Use discretion instead of disgust. Be a good example instead of a bad one. Learn to defuse argumentative bombs instead of causing a bigger blasts. It is actually more honorable to let something go than to stand up for yourself. Learn to let it go!