May 19

OT – 1 Samuel 24:1-25:44
I heard Andy Stanley of NorthPoint Church give a great sermon on David and when I went hunting the link, I found this tweet. This really sums up the whole sermon.

Catalyst Dispatch: Andy Stanley on Integrity
UrL Scaramanga
(Here's a post from Cory Whitehead, editor of the Building Church Leaders newsletter, one our Leadership guys on site at the Catalyst conference here in Atlanta.)
Integrity. We hear all about it today, or at least the lack thereof. Enron, Martha, fallen church leaders. We hear about the breakdown of integrity constantly, but we don't hear much about the upright, about those that do not and will not compromise their integrity. Those stories usually have to come out in our personal conversations and experiences.

At this year's Catalyst Conference, Andy Stanley spoke about integrity. In 1 Samuel 24:1-4a, David had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul, stop living like a bandit, and take over the leadership of Israel as God had promised. David had the opportunity to put an end to it when, in the only place in the Bible that it speaks of "relieving oneself," Saul enters a cave to do so. Consequently, Saul enters the cave that David and his men are hiding in.

But David didn't take offense. The perfect opportunity to move forward, to make progress, to "follow God's will," but he didn't take it. Why?

He showed tremendous restraint. He decided to wait on God to crown him king, not to take matters into his own hands. He didn't kill the king because, after all, God had a law against killing. He didn't bypass the law and principles of God. And He trusted God's greater wisdom and plan.

We like to take matters into our own hands and to progress. We like to call some opportunities "open doors" in order to make progress. But "open doors" aren't always an invitation from God, said Stanley. Not when they're against God's laws, principles, and wisdom.

Stanley reminded me that I'm not too good at evaluating my circumstances. I get emotional and saturated by my environment. Stanley made a good point, something I need to remember when it looks like the stars are aligning and "God is opening a door." He said "opportunities must be weighed against something other than the uniqueness of the circumstances surrounding them."

We like to make progress, so when something looks, feels, sounds like a God thing, we chalk it up to what? A God thing. But in 1 Samuel 24, David says this to Saul, "May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.

David waits. And through waiting, his situation later turned out better than if he would have been crowned king by means of assassination. Stanley and King David reminded me that the most direct route to what I want is RARELY the best route.

How have I comprised my integrity lately and chalked it up to a God thing? How have I practiced the God-talk, but really I was compromising my integrity by defying the laws, principles, and greater wisdom of God. How have you?
Cory Whitehead
From Atlanta
http://www.outofur.com/archives/2005/10/catalyst_dispat.html

NT – John 10:22-42
There are so many miracles in the gospels that we just pass right on by. Today, the one that nearly slipped by was the fact that he ‘escaped their grasp’. Well, of course he did! He was, after all, God Incarnate. But when you ponder that little subverse – escaped their grasp and the fact that just a few chapters later he DIDN’T, suddenly these little escape tactics, diversions and mini-miracles are really, really important. Just as Jesus deliberately chose to open that blind man’s eyes by kneading on the Sabbath, so he CHOSE not to escape.
This is another of the characteristics of Jesus that John is so carefully pointing out. If we want to be like Jesus, we have to deliberately CHOSE to be like him. We cannot sit by and let life happen to us. We need a plan and we need to work it. Now, my plan is probably different from yours. That’s okay. John the Baptist had his role and his plan and he worked his plan. It was different than Jesus’. But it is in the CHOOSING that we emulate Jesus. In the deliberate evaluation and pressing forward kingdom goals.
My dad is a marvel at this. He was and is a big proponent of 1 year, 5 year, 10 year plans. He is 72, almost 73 and I would be willing to lay money that he even has a 20 year plan. I am not so good at this. Maybe when you are in the throes of being a mom, your plan is merely to hold on until the kids are gone. I may have fallen into that trap. But my kids are growing up and moving on and it is time to sit down and make a plan. And then work it. May God lay his blessings on all our plans.