Getting To Know God Better 40

Where would you say you are on the path to understanding your place in God's economy?

You are right where you put yourself. That's right. Whether you like where you are or feel like someone else put you where you are, or don't like where you are at all; you are where you are because of the simple fact that you were created in a world where free-will is the active modus operandi.

Whether you feel like you got a great deal or a raw deal, you are where you should be today. I know it is a difficult concept that you feel like you should be somewhere/someone else, but the fact remains you are you where you are now.

There is much confusion among believers concerning why things are the way they are and what to do about it. Like most conundrums, it will take some serious focus time to get the answers you need. Mostly though, there is one thread running through the entire concept of understanding God's economy and that is faithfulness. I know what your thinking, you have faith and that is the answer. Of course you are mostly right, however there is a difference between faith and faithfulness.

Most of us have some degree of faith that we rely on that connects us to God through Jesus Christ and it is this faith that brings about salvation and sanctification, the forgiveness of sins and adoption into the kingdom of God. All of that is good for us and works all the time. Faithfulness is a little different, in that faith can be applied from a static position, but faithfulness requires forward and constant movement. You can have faith that either grows or wanes or changes based on the circumstances, but faithfulness isn't measured by the same standards as faith. Faithfulness requires fluid action, listening to and reacting to and responding to the voice of God, not relying on yesterdays knowledge but open to today's events/direction/gifting/understanding.

Faith, even as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, but faithfulness cannot be measured by results. Faithfulness is operating on the assumption that when you step forward God will put a step for you to stand on again and again to move forward. Faithfulness does not measure the results, but simply responds to the direction. It is not necessary that the faithful be reminded of how much they have done or how much they have given or what great deeds they have accomplished. Faithfulness is operating with eyes wide open but only to see forward, not having the ability to look back to measure the results. The faithful need not know the day to day results of their labor. Satisfaction comes from responding, not in reaping or accumulating. 

Understanding God's economy is relative to operating in faith. The more faith you apply to any given situation, the more understanding you retrieve. Static faith; in other words, relying on the same level of faith you had ten or twenty years ago will bring you the same results as ten or twenty years ago. Each day the bar is re-set to 0 and in order to grow in faith, you must find new or re-evaluate old information concerning the economy of God. The finding is easy, since God leaves a trail as wide as the universe and as long as time. With your spiritual eyes open to the Word of God and the things of God, you can reach out/down and pick up an unlimited supply of the information you need to operate in the will of God in your life.

There is no hidden agenda or some erroneous expectation that God has concerning you that is hidden or that is not obtainable. There are no missing ingredients. There is no lack of vital information to process. The entire accumulation of the things/knowledge of God is in the operation of your free will. If you freely seek the things of God, you will receive in equal proportion to your faith. The secret to this knowledge is to understand that the bar is set to 0 every day and you can only move forward by re-vitalizing your existing relationship with God or gathering new information that enlightens you to pursue and obtain the newness of your relationship with God.

A static relationship with God, where you rest on your past experience only, for valuing your relationship with God, compared to a revitalized daily relationship, is like being a statue of yourself in a museum compared to being a patron, walking through and seeing all the beauty and magnificence and being inspired to do some great thing.

Many Christians today are like a statue in a museum.