Seize What God Has For You
Bible Study
Chasing Chariots
Eleven Biblical Lessons For Christian Growth
Object:
At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots....
-- Judges 4:15-16
How can the book of Judges speak to us? How can this book that contains accounts of bloodshed, war, strange names, and customs from a distant time say anything relevant to us? As Christians, we believe that studying the Bible is a spiritual activity. By the grace of God and our faith, we are able to go through the text and have insights revealed to us as people of faith, as a particular congregation and as individuals. Without our faith and our relationship with Christ, we get stuck in the text. All we can see are the strange names, customs, the bloodshed, and the war. With our faith and relationship with Christ, a completely new layer of God's insight for us is revealed. This is the insight that we identify as the word of God. Now, with our eyes of faith and by God's grace, we explore what the book of Judges has to say in reference to seizing what God has for us.
Deborah Sends For Barak
In this chapter of Judges, we find that the Israelites are being oppressed by the Canaanites. The commander of the Canaanite army was Sisera. He reportedly had 900 iron chariots that he used to persecute Israel. During this time, Deborah was the moral, legal, and political leader of Israel. Deborah sent someone to retrieve Barak. Barak came to her and she told him to take 10,000 soldiers from his hometown and the surrounding area to Mount Tabor and wait to attack Sisera's army.
Barak did not receive this assignment by accident. He was not simply near Deborah and she said, "Hey, you, why don't you get some soldiers and head over to this mountain?" Deborah sat back in her chair and thought about all the possible people available for this assignment. Her close friends and associates gave her suggestions. She considered Jonathan, Joshua, Sarah, Michael, Rachel, and Samuel. "No, no none of them will work. Get me Barak." Deborah sent for Barak.
As a child, I always rushed to finish my homework because after I completed it, my mother would send me outside. I was acutely aware that once out the house I only had a set amount of time. First, I would make sure that I could see all my friends. Then I would go to the park. I would also make sure that I was able to play my favorite games. By the time I saw the people that I wanted to see, went to the places I wanted to go, and played the games I wanted to play, I knew that my mother would be sending someone to get me to come back in the house.
Before you were even conceived, God identified something about your spirit that was needed here in this physical life. Now that you have come into this world, God is sending you out to meet particular people, to visit some particular places, and to engage in some particular things. After this is over, God will send for you to come back to him. In John 20:21, Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." God sent you to this world, God sends you in this world, and God will send for you from this world one day. You have been specifically chosen and sent to seize some particular things in this lifetime.
Barak Wants Deborah To Come
Deborah continues, "God does not just want you to go into battle, but God assures me that you will be victorious." After Barak heard about his assignment and how the victory was ensured, he responded, "I will do it, but only if you, Deborah, go with me."
Barak wanted some extra assurance and security that God was going to do what he said he was going to do. "Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave ..." (1 Kings 8:56). What God has for you has already been guaranteed. It does not matter how many people are supporting you, how many people like you, or what you have because what God has for you has already been ensured.
God's Uses Israel's Enemies To Teach Her
Review Judges 2:21--3:2. The generations of people that remembered leaving Egypt, receiving the laws from Mount Sinai, and conquering and obtaining the promised land had died. Now Israel was made up of a new generation that never had to fight and struggle for their land, nor had to depend on God to obtain their land. So God said, "I am going to keep the enemies of Israel around to teach them how to fight and how to depend on me and my law."
In other words, Barak was not sent into battle simply to defeat Sisera and the Canaanite army, but he was sent to learn how to fight and trust in the Lord. The process that God takes you through in accomplishing something is just as important as what you accomplish. God doesn't just have certain things for you, but he also has lessons for you to learn while seizing these things. Barak was so focused on the outcome of the battle that he never considered that the act of going to battle itself was part of what God had for him.
Deborah Reminds Barak
Deborah agreed to go with Barak. Barak gathered up his soldiers, went to Mount Tabor, and waited for Sisera's army. Sisera's army came into Barak's sight and Deborah reminded him that the Lord had already ensured his victory and encouraged him to attack. Deborah did not fight for Barak, but she reassured him of what he already knew.
Barak Pursues An Empty Chariot
Barak fought against Sisera's army and started to defeat them. Sisera realized that he would soon lose this battle so he left his chariot and fled by foot. However, Barak continued to pursue after Sisera's chariot. He assumed that the commander who he needed to capture was in the chariot.
What God has for you is not always in the elevated places. Luke 9:48 says, "For he who is least among you all -- he is the greatest." Matthew 19:30 tells us, "Many who are last will be first." God has some things for you to seize that are in places that lack praise, that lack reward, that are not desirable, that lack significance and prestige, and that will place you at the very bottom. But if you are able to seize these things, you will be able to unlock a form of greatness foreign to most of the world. Because Barak chased the empty chariot, he was not able to complete the victory that God intended for him.
In order to seize what God has for you, remember: You were sent to obtain it, you are guaranteed to have it, there are some lessons to be learned in the process of gaining it, and what God has for you is not always in elevated places.
Prayer
Loving provider, from you all our blessings flow. This world tells us to lie, cheat, and compete to get want we want; you tell us that you have set aside a place just for us. This world operates based on divisions and hierarchies, but your bounty is great enough to be extended to all. Give us the courage to pursue all that you have placed before us in a spirit of love and integrity. May we become the people of God that you created us to be. Amen.
Relevant Questions And Sermon Points
How Can We Seize What God Has For Us?
1. Live as if you were selected and sent to obtain some specific things.
2. Remember that the process of obtaining what God has for you is just as important as the goal itself.
3. Look for what God has for you in places and situations that are not elevated and desirable.
Questions For Individual Reflection Or Group Discussion
1. How can you attempt to discern what God has sent you to this earth to do? Do you have any beliefs or feelings about what God has sent you to do?
2. What ways do you try to "secure" your destiny for what you believe God has for you or what you simply want for yourselves?
3. Think about some professional, personal, academic, spiritual, social, or other goals that you have tried to accomplish. What lessons did you learn in the pursuit of those goals? Did you recognize God's hand in your quest for those things?
4. What are some instances in your life where you need to be reminded of God's goodness? Why?
5. Think about some times when you have pursued something that you thought God wanted for you, but realized that it was really elsewhere. What were some factors that led you in the non-God-ordained direction?
-- Judges 4:15-16
How can the book of Judges speak to us? How can this book that contains accounts of bloodshed, war, strange names, and customs from a distant time say anything relevant to us? As Christians, we believe that studying the Bible is a spiritual activity. By the grace of God and our faith, we are able to go through the text and have insights revealed to us as people of faith, as a particular congregation and as individuals. Without our faith and our relationship with Christ, we get stuck in the text. All we can see are the strange names, customs, the bloodshed, and the war. With our faith and relationship with Christ, a completely new layer of God's insight for us is revealed. This is the insight that we identify as the word of God. Now, with our eyes of faith and by God's grace, we explore what the book of Judges has to say in reference to seizing what God has for us.
Deborah Sends For Barak
In this chapter of Judges, we find that the Israelites are being oppressed by the Canaanites. The commander of the Canaanite army was Sisera. He reportedly had 900 iron chariots that he used to persecute Israel. During this time, Deborah was the moral, legal, and political leader of Israel. Deborah sent someone to retrieve Barak. Barak came to her and she told him to take 10,000 soldiers from his hometown and the surrounding area to Mount Tabor and wait to attack Sisera's army.
Barak did not receive this assignment by accident. He was not simply near Deborah and she said, "Hey, you, why don't you get some soldiers and head over to this mountain?" Deborah sat back in her chair and thought about all the possible people available for this assignment. Her close friends and associates gave her suggestions. She considered Jonathan, Joshua, Sarah, Michael, Rachel, and Samuel. "No, no none of them will work. Get me Barak." Deborah sent for Barak.
As a child, I always rushed to finish my homework because after I completed it, my mother would send me outside. I was acutely aware that once out the house I only had a set amount of time. First, I would make sure that I could see all my friends. Then I would go to the park. I would also make sure that I was able to play my favorite games. By the time I saw the people that I wanted to see, went to the places I wanted to go, and played the games I wanted to play, I knew that my mother would be sending someone to get me to come back in the house.
Before you were even conceived, God identified something about your spirit that was needed here in this physical life. Now that you have come into this world, God is sending you out to meet particular people, to visit some particular places, and to engage in some particular things. After this is over, God will send for you to come back to him. In John 20:21, Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." God sent you to this world, God sends you in this world, and God will send for you from this world one day. You have been specifically chosen and sent to seize some particular things in this lifetime.
Barak Wants Deborah To Come
Deborah continues, "God does not just want you to go into battle, but God assures me that you will be victorious." After Barak heard about his assignment and how the victory was ensured, he responded, "I will do it, but only if you, Deborah, go with me."
Barak wanted some extra assurance and security that God was going to do what he said he was going to do. "Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave ..." (1 Kings 8:56). What God has for you has already been guaranteed. It does not matter how many people are supporting you, how many people like you, or what you have because what God has for you has already been ensured.
God's Uses Israel's Enemies To Teach Her
Review Judges 2:21--3:2. The generations of people that remembered leaving Egypt, receiving the laws from Mount Sinai, and conquering and obtaining the promised land had died. Now Israel was made up of a new generation that never had to fight and struggle for their land, nor had to depend on God to obtain their land. So God said, "I am going to keep the enemies of Israel around to teach them how to fight and how to depend on me and my law."
In other words, Barak was not sent into battle simply to defeat Sisera and the Canaanite army, but he was sent to learn how to fight and trust in the Lord. The process that God takes you through in accomplishing something is just as important as what you accomplish. God doesn't just have certain things for you, but he also has lessons for you to learn while seizing these things. Barak was so focused on the outcome of the battle that he never considered that the act of going to battle itself was part of what God had for him.
Deborah Reminds Barak
Deborah agreed to go with Barak. Barak gathered up his soldiers, went to Mount Tabor, and waited for Sisera's army. Sisera's army came into Barak's sight and Deborah reminded him that the Lord had already ensured his victory and encouraged him to attack. Deborah did not fight for Barak, but she reassured him of what he already knew.
Barak Pursues An Empty Chariot
Barak fought against Sisera's army and started to defeat them. Sisera realized that he would soon lose this battle so he left his chariot and fled by foot. However, Barak continued to pursue after Sisera's chariot. He assumed that the commander who he needed to capture was in the chariot.
What God has for you is not always in the elevated places. Luke 9:48 says, "For he who is least among you all -- he is the greatest." Matthew 19:30 tells us, "Many who are last will be first." God has some things for you to seize that are in places that lack praise, that lack reward, that are not desirable, that lack significance and prestige, and that will place you at the very bottom. But if you are able to seize these things, you will be able to unlock a form of greatness foreign to most of the world. Because Barak chased the empty chariot, he was not able to complete the victory that God intended for him.
In order to seize what God has for you, remember: You were sent to obtain it, you are guaranteed to have it, there are some lessons to be learned in the process of gaining it, and what God has for you is not always in elevated places.
Prayer
Loving provider, from you all our blessings flow. This world tells us to lie, cheat, and compete to get want we want; you tell us that you have set aside a place just for us. This world operates based on divisions and hierarchies, but your bounty is great enough to be extended to all. Give us the courage to pursue all that you have placed before us in a spirit of love and integrity. May we become the people of God that you created us to be. Amen.
Relevant Questions And Sermon Points
How Can We Seize What God Has For Us?
1. Live as if you were selected and sent to obtain some specific things.
2. Remember that the process of obtaining what God has for you is just as important as the goal itself.
3. Look for what God has for you in places and situations that are not elevated and desirable.
Questions For Individual Reflection Or Group Discussion
1. How can you attempt to discern what God has sent you to this earth to do? Do you have any beliefs or feelings about what God has sent you to do?
2. What ways do you try to "secure" your destiny for what you believe God has for you or what you simply want for yourselves?
3. Think about some professional, personal, academic, spiritual, social, or other goals that you have tried to accomplish. What lessons did you learn in the pursuit of those goals? Did you recognize God's hand in your quest for those things?
4. What are some instances in your life where you need to be reminded of God's goodness? Why?
5. Think about some times when you have pursued something that you thought God wanted for you, but realized that it was really elsewhere. What were some factors that led you in the non-God-ordained direction?
