I’m remembering today how important obeying the LORD is. Too often it has been easy for me to make excuses about not knowing enough or not being capable enough or not having everything figured out, but the LORD doesn’t care so much if we do everything /just right/ so long as we trust Him with those areas that He /has/ revealed to us.
For instance, I’ve been knowing that the LORD wants me to record a new album of music & narration that would, through the course of the album, tell the Good News to the listener — a “musical gospel tract,” if you will — but I was so concerned with trying to figure out exactly what songs would fit into what part of the gospel narrative, or thinking about how I’m not as good a producer as other people out there, or thinking about all the work that it would take for me to finish such a project, and all of those thoughts stopped me in my tracks from even starting the project.
But the LORD has just recently confirmed to me again these simple words:
“Start with what you know.”
And,
“Do what you can do.”
Well, what I knew was what the first 3 tracks were supposed to be, so I started there. And I knew some of the first instruments to record, and I did that. I’ve been taking it one step at a time, doing what I knew I could do, and I’m trusting the LORD to fill in each next gap that I don’t yet have figured out once I get there, rather than putting the pressure on myself to fill in all the gaps before I even start. And the LORD has been blessing me and making the music-making process very speedy and efficient, so much so that the first 3 tracks are sounding a whole lot better than I would have thought!
In this whole process I’ve been reminded of the parable Jesus told, in which 3 different people were entrusted with different amounts of money (Matthew 25:14–30). The one servant received a lot of money, and he went and doubled it, and the master was pleased with him and put him in charge of more things. The second servant received a medium amount of money, and he went and doubled it, and the master was pleased with him also and put him in charge of more things. The third servant received only a little money. He was scared of his master, so he hid the money. When his master came back and saw the third servant and how he had hidden the money he was entrusted with (instead of using it as best as he knew how in order to earn more money), the master said he was a “wicked, lazy servant” and kicked him out.
I find it very interesting that it was the one who only had a little money entrusted to him who decided not to do anything with the money. Sometimes we can do the same thing. It can be easy for some of us (including myself) to think, “Oh, I’m not as talented as so-and-so, so I’ll just sit out and let them do it,” or, in my case, “Oh, I wouldn’t produce an album in as much of a high-quality, professional way as so-and-so, so I might as well not even bother making an album.” But these are lies to distract us from the LORD’s calling. The LORD is going to look at what /you/ did with what he gave /you/. He doesn’t care so much /how much you’ve been given/, but rather, /what you do with it/.
As the apostle Paul said, “Let us live up to what we have already attained” (Philippians 3:16). We’re not responsible for /someone else’s/ calling or gifting; we will stand before Jesus on Judgment Day and give an account of OUR lives (Romans 14:10-12, 2 Corinthians 5:10, etc.). As it is written, “Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall” (Romans 14:4).
So let’s choose, friends, not merely to make excuses or be afraid, as the wicked servant was (we read in Scripture, after all, the sad truth that all /cowards/ will have their part in the lake of fire — Revelation 21:8). Instead, let’s choose to obey God and use whatever gifts, talents, money, resources, time — and everything else we’ve been entrusted with — to serve Him, because /obedience/ is better than anything else we could offer to God (1 Samuel 15:22).