“Set Down” By God
Recently, I was flying home into Intercontinental Airport and I noticed two teenagers talking. The boy appeared to be about fourteen, the girl about eighteen. Evidently the young man had become enamored with the “older woman” and was acting like “Joe Cool.” You could tell he was trying to act older, more sophisticated, and she appeared to be interested in him or at least in his attempt to woo and win her. The young man was believing in himself and seemingly gaining strength until…the announcement came that we had arrived at our gate and everyone arose, including our young “Don Juan.” As he started to escort his princess off the plane, a stewardess quickly approached him and said, “Young man, you must sit back in your seat. Your parents are outside and have asked that you stay in your seat until they can board the plane and get you.” A businessman across the aisle began to laugh as the young man wilted back into his seat having turned scarlet red. The young Casanova took one more fleeting look at his “lady-fair” but alas, she, too, was in stitches. Thus, she walked out of his life and into the concourse where an unknowing mom and dad had preserved their little boy from growing up too fast. I have to admit to you, I turned my head away and smiled.
Reflecting on this embarrassing incident the young man experienced, the thought occurred to me, I’ve had God “set me down.” Have you ever been “set down” by God? It may be humbling, but don’t shun it because:
1. That’s the posture of obedience that precedes the miracle.
In John 6:10, Jesus said to Andrew before he fed thousands, “Make the men sit down….” Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. The people were hungry, the disciples could not find enough food; all they could dig up were five loaves and two small fishes. There was nothing for those men to do but sit down and depend on the miraculous strength of the Lord.
2. That’s the posture that eliminates itself so that we can enjoy the illumination of God.
II Samuel 7:18 says, “Then went King David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, who am I, O Lord God?” When David sat before the Lord he found out something greater than who he was; he found who God was, for in four verses later David exclaims, “Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee…” (II Samuel 7:22).
3. That’s the posture that brings us into closer identification with those for whom God allows us to minister.
First and foremost, Ezekiel was made a minister to prophesy to God’s people because in the first two chapters of Ezekiel, he saw a vision of God. Secondarily, he was equipped when he caught a vision of those for whom God was allowing him to minister. In Ezekiel 3:15 the prophet declared, “…I sat where they sat….” Once God “sat his prophet down” among the people, that prophet was qualified. In Ezekiel 3:17, God said to his man, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel.”
Being “sat down” by God could change your life, so have a seat
- Pastor Pope -