Monday, October 20, 2014
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There are certain times of the year when the lawn grows like the set of a Tarzan movie. I remember a time when we had been gone for two or three weeks. We came home and saw the lawn taking over the neighborhood. Now, my youngest son had been very, very busy that summer. But finally he was available on this day when it was desperately needed. So he said, "OK, the lawn's high." He and the mower are outside ready to go. And then I was waiting for the beautiful music of that mower running-nothing. Why? My son came in and said, "Dad, I tried everything. That mower isn't working." Oh, man, it was frustrating. There was the need, here's the worker. Where's the tool?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Where Are the Bullets?"
In a moment, we'll look at our word for today from the Word of God which is in chapter 1 of the Old Testament book of Haggai. But first, let me just tell you, there are some disturbing trends that a lot of us have seen. Career missionaries are taking longer each year to raise their support. They can't find enough people to give. Denominations have missionary candidates ready to go, but no funds to send them. Increasingly, churches are decreasing their missionary budgets to spend more right here at home. You can offer a class in missions or sharing Christ, and often it will be very sparsely attended.
It's like my son with the lawn mower. There's the need, there's the worker, but no tool to do it with. The money's not there. Now, this has got to be heartbreaking to a God who sacrificed His one and only Son for this world. We're even looking at a time where increasingly mission budgets are being cut back and less and less is being spent on a lost world and more and more on us right here.
All right, here's our word for today from the Word of God that will tell you what's happening. It was happening back then; it's happening now. Haggai 1:5. "This is what the Lord Almighty says, 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much but harvested little. You reap but never have enough. You drink but you never have your fill. You put on clothes but you're not warm. You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
He's talking about people who are successful but they're restless. And in verse 7, "This is what the Lord Almighty says, 'Give careful thought to your ways.'" Now, he's talking here about the need and His command to rebuild His temple. He says, "'Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build a house so I may have pleasure in it and be honored. You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home I blew away. Why?' declares the Lord. 'Because of My house (get this) which remains in ruins while each of you is busy with his own house.'" Wow! Those are the words that nail me, "Busy with your own house."
Could it be we've been putting our best into our kingdom and leaving Him with the leftovers? Our friend who was giving a substantial gift to the Lord's work said, "Ron, I have to give this. What would happen if God had a soldier at the front line and there's the enemy. And the soldier's got his gun, he's trained, he's ready to fight, and suddenly he says, "Wait a minute! Where's the bullets? They didn't give me any bullets."
You know, that's what is happening to the work of God in this country and around the world. It's like the day we needed something to mow the lawn. We had a need; we had a worker, but no equipment to do the job. In many places today the work of God is standing paralyzed and limited because somebody isn't sending the bullets.
We could be in the final battle for people's lives before Christ comes back. And you've been trusted with some of God's ammunition. That's not for you to sit on, to build your own house. This is no time for men and women on the front lines to be without bullets.
Make this your battle. God's battles then become your battles as well. Commit to seeing that the front line soldiers have the ammunition they need.