Be Like Jehu.

I’m ok.  I’ve been OK for a while now.  Not spectacular, but far from miserable.  I view ministry as work (probably because it is right now) and not the other way around, and honestly, I just don’t FEEL hungry sometimes.  This is definitely a different environment and scene than I’ve grown accustomed to over the past 3 years and perhaps is stretching me more in different ways than my time on the field. 

Last night I went to hang out with Jake.  Jake has been as close to an older brother as I could think of as well as being my logistics supervisor.  I was talking to him about my current situation and he said something that stuck with me:

We don’t do ministry because of how close we are to God. We do it because of

WHO
 
HE
 
IS

For some reason, I’ve always felt that there was a direct correlation between my feelings or my position with God that directly determined what he was capable of doing.  I felt that I should only be doing things when I felt close to him because that’s when he can use me.  Can my “feelings” really limit God or his ability?  Not a chance!  God has already proven himself and he continues to do things today whether or not I FEEL close to him.  I do this because of WHO HE IS and not how I feel at the moment.  What a relief because I feel like a big load of crap a lot of times and it’s a good thing that he is not defined by that.  He desires that we not only minister from our knowledge of him but also from our knowledge of what he says about us.  Let me explain…

There was this man named Jehu.  He was servant to the king Ahab and Jezebel who had a thirst for the death of all of God’s prophets.  One day, Elisha, sent a message that Jehu would be anointed king and would avenge the deaths of God’s prophets.  The messenger arrived and pulled him over to the side, anointed him, declared him king, and ran off.  Jehu went to see his soldiers and tell them what the Lord had said.  Immediately it says that:

“They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!” 2 Kings 9:13 (NIV)

I see two things happen in this story.  First, Jehu did not waste time.  He recognized who he was, his identity, and walked in it.  It didn’t matter that Ahab had been king, what mattered is what God had said about him.  So he owned it and walked in the anointing God had on him.  The second thing that happens that the soldiers recognized his leadership IMMEDIATELY.  When we walk securely and confidently in who God has made/called us to be, then others will follow.  

Jehu rides out and takes care of Ahab and Jezebel in order to fulfill what the Lord had declared.  You see, it wasn’t about Jehu, but it was about him being who God desired him to be to help complete God’s purpose on the earth.  He didn’t have to use Jehu, he chose to.  And Jehu said, “yessir”, and recognized the opportunity.

I want to be like Jehu.  A man who sees who God is and who he is, ready to do what He asks of me.  Imagine what it would look like if we ALL knew him and knew our identities in him.  So if someone speaks truth over your life and to your identity of how God sees you that resonates with his Word and your Spirit, own it.  Why waste time?  There are Kingdom things that need to be done and not enough people doing it.

Something to think on.

*2 Kings 9 – Story of Jehu