Heart Tracks - So Much More

 "Amaziah asked the man of God,'But what should I do about the silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?' The man of God replied, 'The Lord is able to give you so much more than this.' " 2 Chronicles 25:9.............."We are very anxious to have Him work for us, much less so to have Him work in us. As He works for us, He wants us to awaken to what He wants to work into us." T. Austin-Sparks

The man of God spoke the above words to Amaziah the king after he had hired troops from the northern kingdom of Israel to fight against the Edomites. God directed him to do so because he was not with the rebellious people of the northern kingdom. Amaziah saw that doing so would mean the loss of a great sum of money. The prophets words to him were that the Father's compensation would be "much more" than the amount of sacrifice. As I read it all, the question that arises for me, for us is, what does "much more" mean? Did Amaziah think that the Father's "much more" would be a huge monetary sum that would more than make up for his loss? I don't think it's a stretch to believe he did. His mind and heart were likely set upon things that he could count and measure. More often than not, ours are too.

We are very interested in what God is doing or going to do for us. Most of our expectations with Him are connected to that. We are invested in getting to the places we want to reach, amounts we want to accumulate, and victories we want to count. We are not much invested in seeing and experiencing what He wishes to work into us during the process. We're very impatient to get to where we want to be and possessing what we want to have. We don't like to wait, but will grudgingly do so if we believe we will eventually have our desires met. What we miss in it all is that though we may have a long wait to reach what we want outwardly, we never have to wait to have what He wants to do in our hearts. When it comes to that, the One who waits is almost always God. How long has He been waiting upon us?

I confess that for a long time, I read the above scripture with Amaziah's heart. When I thought of sacrifices made for Him, the losses that would surely come from being with Him, I saw His promise of "much more" being an increase of earthly wealth and gain. Maybe not so much in money, but certainly in success, recognition, and applause. God's much more would be, in the end, comprised of things that would pass away, that were not eternal. His much more would improve my circumstances, but for the most part, leave my heart and spirit untouched. This is where the heart of flesh lives. It's why we respond so well to those who promise us financial, business, and ministry increase if we will come to Him. We seem to be blind to the fact that in doing this we are actually just bartering with Him. We come to Christ for the good bread and fish He offers. We don't come for the cross He calls us to, and level of spiritual life He invites us into. We're very willing to leave our encounters with Him with full hands and an empty heart. We want Him to improve our lives and leave our hearts unchanged. One of the questions asked of Christ as He ministered was, "What will You do for us?" Do we continue to ask the same of Him today?

Which is really our hearts desire? To have Him work for us, or in us? The first makes Him our servant, the latter receives and worships Him as our Lord. Who is more real to us today?

Blessings,
Pastor O