Scripture reveals that God has always had a method for accomplishing His will – through men who will act in faith to what He is initiating where they are. Many years ago E M Bounds said:
We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods. new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.
In God’s method, the one following hard after the Lord will discover a pattern in the way God raises up men. This pattern is discernible throughout the length of scripture. We will look at it as it pertains to the disciples. The first things we see is that God chooses the man and makes plans for his life. Jeremiah 29:11, clearly states that God has a plan for our lives that reach into eternity. In John 15, the Lord assured the disciples of the following:
You did not choose Me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. (v16)
Secondly, to the man God chooses, He issues a call. It is an invitation to join Him in His work of redemption. To the brothers, James & John, He invited them to come follow Him and become fishers of men. (Mark 1:16-17). In other words, the call to walk with Christ is a mandate to join Christ in touching the world. But it requires that the call be answered. It requires that we live according to a whole new and different objective.
To the man who will answer the call, God then begins the process of preparing (molding) him into a instrument in which He can accomplish His will. This third element of God’s pattern is a life-long process that will be worked out in crisis situations in which God reinforces our absolute dependence on Him; and in the process refines our character. In God’s agenda, character always precedes assignment. Sadly, we so often try to bypass this part with disastrous consequnces.
Fourthly, the manthat will yield to God’s molding in his life will experience God using him in God-sized ways. Jesus has given us the promise that all things are possible to him who believes. The man, who by faith joins God in His work, will discover that the Lord rejoices in using him again and again. In so doing our faith grows into faithfulness. God delights in using the man will follow after Him in uncompromising faithfulness.
Questions for Small Group Leaders
1) According to Jer. 29:11 & John 15:16, what is God purpose in choosing a man? Explain.
2) Jesus’ call to James & John was to follow Him and become fishers of men? Describe what is involved in this call and what it demands of the man committed to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
3) Why is it that God seemingly prepares the man to be a usable vessel mostly through crisis?
4) Why is it essential for the follower of Christ to learn to see the activity of God in every circumstance?
5) God’s desire is to mold a man into a vessel that he can rely on to be usable again and again. How is this accomplished and what is required of the man who desires this in his life?
