Proverbs
30:7 Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):
8 Remove falsehood and lies far
from me; give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me
with the food allotted to me,
9 Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?”
or
lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs
30: 7-9. One of our dilemmas here in the
“1st world” of Western civilization is deciding how much we want
versus how much we can handle.
More
cake? Will I really work this of at the
gym?
Another
degree? Can I handle the extra course
work?
Buy
a (bigger) house? Can we make the higher
mortgage?
Take
on this new ministry? Can we sustain it
over the long run?
Try
for the promotion? Will I be as successful
with the greater responsibility?
Pop
the question? Am I ready for that kind
of commitment?
On
the one hand, don’t sell yourself short.
The fullness of God’s destiny for you will force you beyond your comfort
zone and into the place where you have to depend on God rather than
yourself. God’s grace is sufficient to deliver victory though
you’ve reached the limits of your own strength (2
Corinthians 12: 9; Philippians
4: 13).
On
the one hand: Ambition? On the other hand: Ability?
On
the other hand, we have to be careful not to think more highly of what we will/can
do that we should (Romans
12: 3). Some battles are not ours to fight, and therefore not ours to
win. King David felt capable of building
the 1st temple, but God said that it wasn’t his to build (2
Samuel 7). Rehoboam had it in his
heart to reunite the kingdom of Israel, but God told him, “No” (2
Chronicles 11: 1-4).
It’s
a lie when anyone or anything tells you to settle short of the greatness to
which God has called you. It is equally
a falsehood when someone or something pushes you up to pursue what God never
meant for you to have.
Falling
for either lie will lead you to sin because your ambition/ your desires will
rest outside of God’s will. And outside
God’s will is where you find sin.
The
solution is to seek what Agur sought in Proverbs 30: 7-9, to pray as Jesus taught
in Luke
11: 3; to plan as James explained in
James
4: 13-16.
Lord, don’t let me fall for the lies. Give me each day what you want me to have. Show me day by day what you want me to
seek. Speak to my spirit so that I don’t
sell myself short or exalt myself beyond what I should. Give me all that I need, but never more than I
should have.
If I should ever overreach beyond what you have given me to
bear, then provide me with the way of escape that you promised. (1
Corinthians 10: 13)
If I should ever shrink below what you’ve called me to do,
then light a fire under me/ in me/ around me so that I have to move up to what
you called me to ( Jeremiah
20: 9; Exodus
3: 2, 3).
The
answer to Ambition vs. Ability is the same answer: Develop your relationship with Jesus. Listen to Him. Grow in Christ and learn how to let the Holy
Spirit lead you. Then your ears shall hear a word behind you,
saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or
whenever you turn to the left. (Isaiah
30:21)
---Anderson
T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall
Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
If you enjoy our work, please help support our work
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