When God Grants Your Desires

One thing about me, I am a very austere kind of person. I value
saving money, living simply and things like that. That is most
likely because I have to provide for my two sons (life in Singapore
is expensive!!!) and so I pay more attention to securing the
necessities.

That very much carries over to my goals and ambitions in life. I am
a father, and fathering takes a serious time commitment. So I tend
not to pay much attention to other matters than work, my sons and
ministry at church.

Do I have personal goals, interests and hopes? Of course I do! But
since there is a limit to my time, budget and energy, these tend to
get put on the back shelf. “I’ll get to them later” I always tell
myself. But the later never comes. Know what I am talking about?

Luke 5:1-3 (ESV) - On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in
on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of
Gennesaret,  and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen
had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one
of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little
from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

I can identify with Peter in this incident. He was caught up with
day-to-day survival, making ends meet, business as usual. Even
though I already know Jesus and want to live my life for him, the
fact is, like Peter at that moment, I am only giving God leftovers.
Granted, more and better than Peter’s (since the Holy Spirit has
been working in me for decades), but leftovers nonetheless.

Luke 5:4-7 (ESV) - And when he had finished speaking, he said to
Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."
And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!
But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done
this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were
breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come
and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that
they began to sink.

Peter and his partners were experienced fishermen. If they could
not consistently catch enough fish, they would have gone out of
business a long time ago. Did he ever wish to have such a huge
catch of fish before? Of course! But he would have dismissed it as
idle fantasy. Come on, let’s be realistic. He’s human, with human
limits, and there are all the limits of nature, like how many fish
are there in the lake itself and whether they would do the
equivalent of committing fish-suicide all at the same time.

Very unrealistic. Quite impossible. But it happened!

Likewise for me. I had a hope and achievement I wanted but didn’t
dare believe I would get. It was pretty much my teenage dream
(albeit better than Katy Perry’s), and just as useful, which is not
at all! To top it all off, when the money actually started to come
in to finance this, I spent so much time and effort into financing
this achievement and settling the logistics (who is gonna take care
of the boys when I am not around?) that I pretty much forgot to
prepare myself. It’s like taking a long trip to take an exam but
forgetting to actually study for the exam. Come on, let’s be
realistic. How am I going to pull off a stunt like that?

Very unrealistic. Quite impossible. But it happened!

Luke 5:8-11 (ESV) - But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at
Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord." For he and all who were with him were astonished at the
catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John,
sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to
Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything
and followed him.

So when God gives me my desires, and it is obviously God because I
was woefully unprepared and unready, what do I do now? Ever since I
succeeded I have been on my knees daily thanking God for it. What
touches me deeply is the fact that what God did for me is purely
for me. I dare to expect good from God when it comes to provision
for my family, or when it comes to success in ministry, because it
isn’t selfish, other people benefit, not just me.

But for this personal goal, no one else benefits. Just me. And God
granted me success anyway. So what comes next? For Peter, Jesus
called him to the full-time service very quickly after that. But
how about me? What is a fitting response to God’s tender mercies
and kindness in my life?

Psalm 116:12-14 (ESV) - What shall I render to the LORD for all his
benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the
name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of
all his people.

Blindingly Obvious Lessons

First, such blessings do NOT fall into our lap without any effort
on our part. For Peter, he had to obey the immediate instruction –
launch out into the deep and let down the nets. In my case I had to
believe that God was leading me to take the necessary steps, and I
had to put myself in the place where I can receive a supernatural
blessing.

Second, our God is often more generous than we give him credit for.
He richly gives us things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). Of
course don’t be irresponsible with the resources and provision of
God, since as stewards we have to give an account to God of our
stewardship. But at the same time recognize that sometimes God just
wants to leave us totally awestruck at the depths of his goodness
to us.

God just did that for me. I pray that he does it for you too. Be
blessed!

The Fish With A Coin In The Mouth

I am a charismatic. And proud of it.

But there are times when I cringe at what some of my fellow charismatics do. And that is especially when they make a very uniquely charismatic mistake, to mess up the natural and expect the supernatural to compensate for it.

What do I mean by that?

One clear example are people who claim they want to play drums for worship, refuse to seriously learn the instrument, and yet pray fervently that God would anoint their playing and bless the worship session with his presence. They would talk about depending on the Lord and not on their own efforts, not have the fruits to back it up, and then accuse others of being fleshly and earthly-minded if they do not agree that they are anointed and gifted of God in their drumming.

This mistake can manifest in other ways and contexts, other than just worship ministry. For example, a church may be seeking to hire a pastoral assistant with at least a diploma in theology, and yet put up the job notice in only one place – a secular job site. Surely if they wanted to seek the people with the right qualifications, they would at least email the notice to a few Bible Colleges or seminaries, right? They didn't.

I don't see this kind of mistake among the non-charismatics.
What makes the whole thing confusing?
You see, amongst us charismatics, we have testimonies of God directing people to do things that do not make sense, and yet they get results. Supernatural results.

All that is great – until we feed people the expectation that God will usually work like that, or if we believe that taking care of the natural details leaves God no room to work supernaturally. And for many of us charismatics, that has been put to us as the unpardonable sin, moving in the flesh, trusting in the arm of man rather than the power of God.

During this season I have been meditating on the Gospel of Matthew, and one day this verse grabbed my attention.
But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours. (Matthew 17:27, NIV)
Jesus said this after Peter had foolishly committed himself and Jesus to paying the temple tax. Jesus, being the rightful owner of the temple (and the rest of the entire universe) of course would be exempted from the tax. But because Jesus saw the whole thing as a small matter, not worth offending the Pharisees over, he chose to pay that tax in a supernatural way.

Can you imagine what the other disciples might have said to Peter as he was heading off to follow Jesus' instructions?

"Hey Peter, I heard about the temple tax people coming here just now. What happened?"
"I told them that Jesus would pay the temple tax."

"And how does Jesus intend to settle that?"

"He told me to go fishing."

"Want some help, Peter? Maybe John and James should go help you? You are going to need to catch a lot of fish to pay that tax!"

"No problem, Jesus said I only need to get one, because the first one will have the money in its mouth already!"

Wonder what the other disciples thought at this point!

What I JUST noticed, however, was Jesus took care of the natural factors as well. What do I mean? For example, Jesus sent Peter to fish for the money, not Matthew the Tax Collector or Simon the Zealot. Naturally speaking, Peter was well-qualified to perform this task.

Jesus also directed Peter to fish in the lake. That was the ideal and reasonable place for Peter to find fish. Jesus could have told him to go fish in a river or pond or even look for the fish somewhere on land, since God would have no difficulty moving fish around anywhere he wishes. And yet Jesus told Peter to go to the lake.
In other words, we see that, even when preparing for a supernatural work, Jesus would get qualified people to go to the right places for it!
Of course God can direct his people to do really weird things. It's his prerogative. Personally, if someone tells me that God told him or her to do something strange, and if everything goes horribly wrong I am the person cleaning up the mess, then I'll look for the following two signs that this person has been directed by God:

1) Timing: Notice from this account that the first fish gave Peter the results. If Peter had to catch 2,385 fish to find that one fish with the money inside, then I'll say that his finding the money was just a fluke. Things like that happen.

2) Leverage: Could Peter have paid the tax without the money in the fish's mouth? Yes, but it would take catching a lot more fish! What was supernatural in this incidence was the leverage and impact of the results. This one fish was enough to accomplish God's purpose when usually we would need a lot more fish. If Peter toiled for a couple of weeks to catch enough fish for the tax, we can see clearly that it was not a supernatural working.

There are different ways leverage can be manifested. For example, in Luke 5:1-11, Peter caught a huge number of fish (leverage) immediately upon the Word of Jesus (timing). In Matthew 17 Jesus chose to skip the necessity of selling the fish in exchange for money and used the fish to bring the money directly. And after this account, the next time Jesus gave Peter a supernatural catch of fish in John 21, the leverage was displayed through the huge number of fish again.

So I'll look for the signs. Such as a job-ad in an unusual place pulling in the right job candidates immediately, or an untrained musician being able to play what unifies the worship of the congregation. In other words, I will judge, not by the jargon or spiritual-sounding clichés the person uses, but by the fruits (Luke 6:44).

Why would a person choose to ignore the natural factors and principles that make things work?

Ultimately it is an issue of slothfulness.

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly. (Pro 26:16, NIV)

Those who are mentally lazy and do not want to put in the necessary preparations like to think of themselves as being above the rules. They want to believe that they can get results without putting in the necessary effort. And they use the Holy Spirit as an excuse.

For example, I see some business websites that are set up by Christians, and those sites have HORRIBLE marketing copy on them. The writing that they put up is self-indulgent and totally devoid of marketing value. It will not bring them customers; in fact, it will probably drive the customers away. Those website owners can say that they are inspired by God to write what they wrote, but if it isn't bringing them the results, then they are indirectly blaming God for the lack of fruit.

The willingness to learn what is necessary and do what it takes is the difference between the mentally lazy and the serious people who just need more time to bear fruit. Those who are serious but just need more time are those who will consult with genuine experts (not just friends, neighbours and relatives) and put in genuine effort.

They are teachable but discerning. They know that they are better off getting marketing advice from a marketing expert (with proven sales results), worship ministry advice from an effective worship leader, and exercise and diet advice from someone who is healthy and full of energy.

In other words, they will make themselves into the right people and are willing to go to the right places. When their time comes they are ready for God to use their natural preparations and give them supernatural results. Just like Peter in Matthew 17.

Please hear my heart. I know what I share here will be controversial, and there will be sincere, God-fearing charismatics who are offended by what I have said. But I am sharing this so that:

1) You will recognize this kind of faulty thinking in other people;

2) You will avoid it for yourself; AND

3) You will put in the necessary effort to make yourself the right person who can go to the right places at God's direction and be blessed with supernatural results.

I will not know what is God's specific assignment and direction for your life. It may or may not be in the worship ministry. But what I can tell you is that whatever it is, it will require you to grow in your understanding and skills. And it will involve a lot of mundane, unexciting preparations. Just like in Peter's case, when all the fishing he did before using his own natural abilities helped prepare him to be someone God could use to fish supernaturally.

So be patient, be faithful, and one day you may be the one opening the fish's mouth to find a coin inside!
"May the God of peace… equip you with everything good for doing his will" (Hebrews 13:20, 21 NIV)
P.S. And if you want to get equipped to serve God in the worship ministry and you haven't got my book yet, what are you waiting for? Get it, get equipped and get going!