The Monday Memo from John Stanko

803: Hiding from God

This past week, I stumbled on the story of King Saul's ascent to leadership in 1 Samuel. I say stumbled because I was not intending to study this story and had not considered it much in the past. There are many puzzling things about Saul's leadership journey, and I have been researching and studying online and in the library since Tuesday.

I have many questions like: why did God seem so supportive of Saul's appointment, even though He was clear that Saul represented Israel's rejection of God's kingship? Why did Saul seem so spiritual at one point with so many supernatural confirmations of his leadership and then fall and fail so quickly? Why was Samuel so ready to reject Saul as king when Saul disobeyed over what was seemingly much less of a transgression than David committed with Bathsheba? I'm not sure I will find definitive answers, but I know I will enjoy the investigation.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED SO FAR.

One thing stood out to me right away as I began to study and that was how ambivalent Saul was about the leadership position God was assigning him. While it seemed humble and the proper response, I am not sure it was, and I believe it is a common response among God's people:

1. EXCUSES: "Saul answered, 'But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?'" (1 Samuel 9:21).  Like Gideon, Saul objected that his family heritage was not worthy of leadership, and tried to use low self-esteem as an excuse not to lead.
2. SILENCE: "Saul’s uncle said, 'Tell me what Samuel said to you.' Saul replied, 'He assured us that the donkeys had been found.' But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship" (1 Samuel 10:14-16). Saul refused to tell his uncle what God had said to him through Samuel, perhaps assuming that his silence would cause the entire encounter with Samuel to go away.
   
3. HIDING: "Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, 'Has the man come here yet?' And the Lord said, 'Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies'" (1 Samuel 10:21b-22).
   

After he had no other way to avoid God's call and assignment, Saul resorted to hiding in the warehouse. He thought he could hide from God's plan, and it would all just go away, but he was wrong. God's choice was clear and final, and Saul would reluctantly accept the call. I wonder if the rest of his career was a futile attempt at running and hiding as he was found doing when his reign began?

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Has God assigned something for you to do? Perhaps it is something to create or a purpose to accomplish. If you are like Saul, you have tried one or all of this three ploys to avoid the will of God: excuses, silence, and hiding. The hiding can take the form of busy-ness ("God, it is just not realistic for me to do Your will right now"), or silence ("If I don't volunteer or tell anyone about what God wants me to do, then God cannot use them to hold me accountable"), or excuses ("I don't have the education, time, or money to do that; I hope that God gives it to someone else to do. After all, my kids need me"). I suppose we can boil all three down into one, and that is trying to hide from God.

Are you hiding? Well, if you are, you have been found, just like Saul was found. God knows where you are, and He has sent me to bring you out. You have something to do that only you can do, so I suggest you get over the excuses, open your mouth, and then accept the anointing that is yours. One word of caution: Don't act like you are doing God a favor as you come out of hiding. If you don't deal with your fear and rebellion, then your entire "career," like that of Saul's, will be one of the reluctant disciple who must be coerced into obedience, and that will not be good for those around you and especially for you. Have a blessed week!

802: God is Faithful

I am in the business lounge in the Dubai Airport on my way home from a great 17-day trip to Kenya. I had 16 other people with me who got to experience what I regularly encounter from the people, sights, and presence of the Lord in Kenya. As I was preparing to speak for the thirteenth time this morning in the last 17 days, I could not help but reflect back on my early days of ministry.

ELEVEN YEARS

In the past, I have written about how to I learned to speak by not speaking. In the 11 years I was in ministry in Mobile, Alabama, I spoke exactly two times in those years. You can say that I averaged one message every 11 years. That's a lot of time to prepare between messages, don't you think? What's more, in those 11 years not one person in leadership ever asked me what I felt God wanted me to do. I was there to serve them and their vision, and even when I traveled with them, I was relegated to watching them do their thing. There were times when I went to leadership meetings and since I was not in the inner circle, I was passed over when the men there gave reports on their ministries and what they were doing. It was humbling, sometimes humiliating, but I tried to be faithful. Truthfully, I would not have had much to report.

During those 11 years and 600 Sundays, I watched carefully to see what those preaching were doing. I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly, but I learned from them all. I had a small home group, and I was faithful to lead that group as best I could, ministering to their needs and teaching them as the opportunity arose. There were times when I went out to other churches, who would give my leadership a good report, but they never felt inclined to give me a chance to minister back home.

When I moved to Pittsburgh in 1995, more speaking opportunities opened up for me, but my work in Africa was always a source of tension with leadership. They wanted me to stay home, but I wanted to go. When I went and returned, few on staff and no one in leadership would ask me how it went, what I learned, or how I felt it could add to the church's missions ministry. I felt like I had to operate and do what I was doing under the radar.

LAUNCHING OUT

Finally, in 2001 at the age of 51, I said I had had enough and decided to launch out on my own, starting PurposeQuest to help others find their purpose as I had found. To say that all hell broke loose when I left would not be an exaggeration. I had to start over with no money, no relationships, and no ministry opportunities. I remember making a trip to Africa in 2001, a trip that I charged on my already overloaded credit cards. I did so just to make a statement to principalities and powers that I felt Africa was in my future and I was going to find a way, by God's grace, to be there as often as possible. God in His mercy did open doors for me to be there, but I found myself staying for three or four months at a time, trying to make ends meet back home.

I have often said that from 2001 to 2008, I was in exile in Africa. I traveled while based in Zimbabwe, but even that opportunity in Zimbabwe ended in a relationship fracture that to this day has not been healed, and I doubt if it ever will. Our leadership philosophies differ too greatly to bridge the gap. In 2009, I decided to focus on Kenya, where the people were acutely in tune with the purpose message, and God has opened many doors for me there. Sunday morning's ministry, my thirteenth speaking engagement on this trip, was a testimony to God's faithfulness. I did not quit, and He did not quit on me, opening doors that no man could open and granting me favor with the people.

TODAY

Today when I preach and teach, I relish every chance I get. I will never forget those lean years, and I always pray that God will help me help His people. Since no one ever asked me what God wanted me to do, I try to equip people to find and fulfill their purpose. Next month, I will be 67 years old. I don't know how many days I have left, but I want to make every one of them count. I have paid a high price to do what I am doing today, and I don't intend to squander the chances, while at the same time equipping others to do what they are called to do and helping them do it.

So, this Memo is just a note to the Lord to say "thank You" for His help and grace. All that was going through my mind as I got ready to preach this morning, and I just had to share my thoughts with you. If you find yourself far away from what God has called you to do, perhaps my story will encourage you not to give up and remind you that God is indeed faithful. Have a blessed week!

801: Strong Hold

Yesterday morning in church, I spoke on two passages:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2).

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Often we are chasing and coming against the strongholds that are "out there," and we ignore the strongholds that are in our own minds. Those are thoughts that accumulate over time, and become a rigid way of doing things or seeing the world. For example, if you as a child did not do well in math, you began to think, "I am just not good in math." That thought is reinforced by poor performance, which just "proves" you are not smart. Perhaps comments from others reinforced that thought, so that you began to avoid math classes. When you got to university and were confronted with having to take a math class, panic set in because you know how you are: the stronghold in your mind says you are no good at math.

You can have a stronghold that works against you using social media: "Oh, I'm no good at that. I don't have time anyway." So as the world continues to go digital and connects through many media, you resist the trend because you have a stronghold that actually causes you to fear the social media. Oh, you may not act like you are afraid, maintaining that it is your choice not to participate, but in most cases, you have built up a thought that now has a strong hold on your mind.

The thing that I saw yesterday that I had never seen before is that a stronghold in your mind always results in panic and fear when that stronghold is challenged or confronted, just like the example above. The army of Israel in the story of David had a stronghold in their mind, and it was that Goliath was too big for anyone to fight. When the stronghold confronted them, they were terrified: "On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified" (1 Samuel 17:11) and "Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear" (1 Samuel 17:24).

How can you identify your strongholds? You can do so by honestly assessing where your greatest fears are. Then you can pursue the root cause of that fear and as you do, your pursuit will lead you to the stronghold. Next week, we will look at how you can pull down the strongholds, but your assignment this week is to get comfortable with the fact that you have them, and begin to realize the effects produce in your life. Have a blessed week!

800: And the Answer Is . . .