What do you think would have happened if Joseph was not a Godly person? Who would have interpreted the dream Pharaoh had?
And if Daniel wasn’t a real man of God? Would good old’ Nebbie-what’s-his-name ever have found out about the different kingdoms that would follow his? Or his dementia episode? Or would we have been able to trace exactly the time Messiah would appear?
And Gideon? And Elijah? And all the other Prophets and men of God that shaped the world, from Abraham to Yeshua, to maybe even Billy Graham, or Martin Luther King, or someone not even born yet that will help to spread God’s word?
God is able to do everything, and there is nothing that He can’t do, and He doesn’t need any help in any way to accomplish His goals. But… He does restrict Himself, more often than not, to using people to get His message across. And in that way, He does need help. He needs people that are godly and worshipful, people who allow the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to rule in their lives because they know how to hear it and that have the courage and faithfulness to do what it says. These people are almost as much a saviour as Yeshua, Himself, in that they move us in the direction God wants us to go.
Since we are talking about human beings here, the general rule is that the prophets and godly people are not popular when they are doing their “thing”, but only in retrospect can we see how wonderful and useful were the things that they told us. As a rule, humans don’t like being told what to do, and when a true prophet of God is talking to us it is almost always to get us back on track. I don’t recall God using a prophet to go to the leaders and the peoples and say something like, “Hey, just wanted to let you know you’re doing great! Good work, keep it up!”
Don’t expect that to happen any time. In fact, Yeshua tells a parable about a slave working in the fields all day, and when he and his master come in to supper, the slave prepares everything and serves the master first because that is what he is supposed to do. No special thank you or reward was given, and no special thank you or reward is to be expected: the message is that when you do what you are supposed to do you don’t get special treatment. If only we could get that idea into the heads of people in the corporate world, who think that just showing up on time rates them a raise. We expect too much for just doing what we are supposed to do, which indicates the lazy and self-centered attitude of humans. We want to be praised for just barely doing our job. Well, that’s a topic in and of itself…maybe down the road. Back to today’s message.
How many people believed Noah before it was too late? And how many people thought Ezekiel a total nut-case: laying on only one side of his body for over a year, and eating food cooked on a fire fueled with dung? Vas eine Meshuggah!!
Let’s not forget about Isaiah, walking around with his butt exposed (given the way the youth wear their pants today, maybe there is a message we are all missing?)
But these people did what the Ruach, what God, told them to do, and we don’t know how many people they helped reconcile to God.
God needs godly people. These are the ones He chooses to do His work on the Earth, the ones who are truly listening to Him. Their lives usually are very hard and they don’t get a lot of credit; in fact, the publicity they get is usually bad. But their reward in heaven must be great!
Oh, yes- God can use ungodly people, as well. He used Pharaoh to show His greatness, He used Nebbie-can’t spell-it-right to show His rule and authority, He used Xerces and other kings to demonstrate how He protects His people, and all through these attempts to destroy the Jewish people- Hanukkah, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust- through all these, right up to today with the constant terrorist attacks against the Land, God still keeps His people alive and kicking. And overcoming!!
I’ll bet if you really look, today you will find godly people doing things for God. For instance, organizations that help Jewish people migrate to Israel (it’s called making “aliyah”; literally, “going up”) and people risking their lives to deliver tzedakah (charity) to poor Jewish people in the FSU, Poland and Ethiopia (where Jewish persecution is still a very real threat) to buy food and necessities for themselves.
You don’t need to be an Elijah, or a David, or a Deborah…you just need to do what God puts on your heart to do. When he told Moshe to ask the people for gifts and contributions to the Tabernacle they had to build in the desert, the request (not a command) was that only people willing to give should give, and only what they wanted to give from their heart. This wasn’t a command, like the 1/2 shekel tithe for their lives, or the temple tax, but it was open-ended. People should give what they want to give. And do you remember what happened? Moses had to tell them to stop! He said to them that they had more than was needed! The people knew how to listen, how to obey, and they did so cheerfully. What a shame that attitude didn’t last. 🙁
If you really want to help God, be a godly person. Teach yourself to hear with your heart, be courageous enough to do what you know God wants of you. You probably won’t need to build an arc, or fight a giant, or interpret the President’s dreams, but whatever God asks of you, when you do it you are helping the Lord, God, Almighty. Imagine! God needs your help; how cool is that?
So, help God out, OK? Be a pal, be a chum, be a servant of the Lord. Wouldn’t it be great to go to bed at the end of the day saying to yourself, “Today, I helped God.”
Pleasant dreams.
