February 26, 2024

February 26th, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
Matthew 13:24-30 (The Wheat & The Weeds)
“The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.” – Matthew 13:27-28 (NLT)
“God’s Not the Only One At Work”

One of the naïve thoughts we sometimes have is that if we’re doing something good for God that everything ought to just fall into place. God moves in our hearts, and we commit to go to a higher level of intimacy with Him. God nudges us to take a leadership or serving role in the church or in the community. We feel tugged to cultivate a relationship with someone we know needs a bit of help or someone whom we know needs the Lord. All of these are noble spiritual movements and things that we would think would be followed by blessings galore.
But then they’re not. Instead of pats on the back, we get criticized. Instead of fruitful ministry, we have multitudes of problems. Instead of open doors, we get them slammed in our face. It’s enough to make you wish you’d never made the effort at all. What’s the deal?
The deal is that God is not the only one at work. In our passage today, Jesus makes it clear that no sooner does God plant the good seed of His Work than the Enemy goes to work, too. He spreads his weeds of discouragement. He spreads his seeds of fatigue. He tries to get your eyes off of the goal, off of the good, and off of the harvest. He wants you to only see the obstacles or the problems or the struggles. He wants to slow you down, drain your faith, and make you quit. And if he can’t get you to quit, he’ll settle to just get you to do God’s work with a bad attitude. Anything to try to lessen the harvest.
Don’t give in to the Enemy’s ploy. When troubles come, don’t see them as punishment from God, see them as the applause of the Enemy. If you weren’t becoming something good or doing something worthwhile, you wouldn’t be worth his time. The fact that he’s messing with you at all means God is at work in you, and he wants to stop it. Let that be the fuel to make you set your jaw, fix your eyes on the goal, and keep going. God’s strength will be with you. God’s favor will be upon you. And ultimately God’s victory will happen in you and through you. You just can’t forget that God’s not the only one at work. That’s God’s Word for you today.