DAY 81
脫離控制，進入信心
雷克-喬納

每天早上，當我為晨星的事工禱告時，我都會面臨這樣一個事實：我們所做的事遠遠超出了我的控制能力。我可以把所有的時間花在八個主要的事工部門中的任何一個，但這是不夠的，然而我只能給每個部門很少時間。我也受到挑戰，因為這些事工中的每一個都能影響全世界的基督徒，因為我們有影響力。當我在思考這個責任的分量時，我開始想到我的家人，以及我如何只能把一小部分時間交給他們。這方面的負擔和內疚對我來說越來越重，直到我感到主的同在。仿佛祂把一隻手放在我的肩膀上。然後祂提醒我，祂用祂的力量支撐著整個宇宙；這個小小的事工和我的小家庭都不是問題！"祂說。

我已經開始相信，所有人類的責任都超出了人類的能力。這意味著，沒有神，我們沒有一件事可以做得好。正是因為我不能對我們的事工進行微觀管理，所以為祂留下了大量的運行空間。這也為其他人在事工中的成長留下了空間。這並不是提倡我不負責任，例如不花適當的時間在事工或家庭上，但適當的時間是通過跟隨主和每天順服而在這些領域中找到的。如果我不把這部分做好，我就不會有任何正確的結果。主在馬太福音11:29-30說：

"我心裡柔和謙卑，你們當負我的軛，學我的樣式；這樣，你們心裡就必得享安息。因為我的軛是容易的，我的擔子是輕省的。"

當我第一次讀到主將如何獎勵祂忠心的僕人，讓他們在王國裡統治城市時，我感到震驚。對我來說，這聽起來不像是獎賞，而是懲罰！我甚至不想監督城市。我甚至不想管理一個社區，更不用說一個城市。如果我可以做我想做的事，那就是把我所有的時間都花在禱告、學習和與家人在一起。我喜歡教會的團契，但是哪怕是監督一個小教會，都超出了我的願望，更不用說一個有越來越多大型事工的教會。然而，我發現，正是在承擔責任的地方，我們才能與主有非常親密的關係。祂是萬王之王，所以責任是祂所做的。我們是在為與祂一起掌權而訓練。執政可能不是獎賞，但在執政過程中與祂的相交將是我們的獎賞。如果我們想與祂同在，我們必須學會在所有的責任和所有的權力中找到與祂的關係。

2000年是我們事工的安息年。雖然我們大大減少了我們的活動以示敬意，但我不記得有哪次比這更忙了。然而，安息日的真正問題不只是從工作中休息，而是學會住在主和祂的安息中。主幫助我們進入祂的安息，給了我們這麼多事情做，沒有祂，我們不可能做到。

我曾讀過一篇文章，是什麼將像老虎伍茲和其他明星運動員這樣的人與有時擁有更多恩賜的同齡人分開。結論是，這是他們保持專注和在壓力下保持冷靜的能力。這可能也是將那些結出很多果實的人與那些結出很少或沒有的人區分開來的一個關鍵問題。然而，我們的注意力不僅僅是在我們的任務上，而且還在無限大的東西上--主本身。我們不只是要保持冷靜，而是要住在主的平安裡。

研究表明，一分鐘的憤怒可以消耗一個正常八小時的力量。僅僅生氣幾分鐘也會造成同樣的結果。憂慮也會以驚人的速度消耗我們的能量，甚至比苦力勞動快得多。如果我們住在主的平安裡，我們會有多大的效率，會有多大的精力？這可能就是為什麼保羅寫道："......賜平安的神快要將撒但踐踏在你們腳下。"（見羅馬書16:20）

這也是教會中的長老不能"脾氣急躁"（見提多書1:7），或發怒的原因之一。很少有東西能像憤怒或恐懼那樣消磨我們的效率。與此相反，信心釋放出創造宇宙的力量。

我們常常認為偉大的信心是自發發生的，這樣我們就可以被用來創造奇蹟或醫治疾病。然而，最偉大的信心，也是最有效的信心，是日復一日地信任祂。正是因為如此信任祂，我們才把每一個問題都看成是看到祂在我們生活中工作的機會。不是擔心，而是信靠和住在神的平安裡，這將粉碎撒旦試圖對我們做的任何事情。如果主從混亂中創造了世界，那麼祂可以很容易地處理我們的任何問題。

我聽到許多基督徒說，他們知道主可以創造奇蹟，但他們不知道祂是否會。然而，祂已經說過，如果我們相信祂，祂總是會創造奇蹟。因此，正如我們在約翰福音6:28-29中所讀到的：

眾人問他說：我們當行什麼，才算做神的工呢？
耶穌回答說：信神所差來的，這就是做神的工。

我們的主要工作不是建立教會，或事工，而是在主裡成長，在信心裡成長。作為事工，我們現在剛剛被移到位置上，開始我們的最終使命。當我們看到這個任務時，我們總是會被壓倒，因為它總是比我們大得多。正是在我們無法完成的時候，祂才會接手。我們的目標不是工作本身，而是在那唯一能完成工作的人身上增長信心。

我們已經得到應許，我們正在進入將看到大神蹟的時代。我們也需要明白，這可能是因為我們正被推到我們將需要神蹟的地方。即便如此，這也是我們大多數人願意參加的事。我們想成為神所造的一部分，而不是人所造的。

讓我們繼續為我們的目的預備，把每一個問題、每一個障礙都看作是看到奇蹟的機會。讓我們下定決心住在神的和平裡，這樣我們就能看到賜平安的神將撒但踐踏在我們腳下（見羅馬書16:20）。我們還必須認識到憤怒和忿怒是我們目標的大敵。我們不能讓它們進入我們被呼召建立的信心堡壘。它們是主要的敵人，會試圖耗盡我們的信心、我們的注意力，甚至是我們被賦予的體力能量。

 

DAY 81
Out of Control and Into Faith
Rick Joyner

Each morning as I pray over the different ministries in MorningStar, I am confronted by the truth that what we are doing is far beyond my ability to control. I could spend all of my time with any one of the eight major ministry divisions and it would not be enough, yet I can only give each one a tiny fraction of my time. I am also challenged by the fact that each of these ministries can have an impact on Christians around the world because of the influence that we have. As I was pondering the weight of this responsibility, I began to think of my family, and how I can only give a fraction of my time to them. The burden and guilt of this was getting heavy on me until I felt the presence of the Lord. It was as if He was putting a hand on my shoulder. He then reminded me that He upholds the universe with His power; this little ministry and my little family are no problem!

I have come to believe that all human responsibilities are beyond human ability. That means that there is nothing that we can do right without God. It is because I cannot micro-manage our ministry that it leaves plenty of room for Him to move. It also leaves room for others to grow in the ministry. This is not to promote irresponsibility on my part, such as not spending the right amount of time with the ministry or with my family, but the right amount is found in each of these areas by following the Lord and being obedient day by day. I will not get anything right if I do not get this part right. The Lord said in Matthew 11:29-30:

"Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
"For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

When I first read how the Lord will reward His faithful servants by giving them cities to rule over in the kingdom, I was shocked. That did not sound like a reward to me, but punishment! I did not even want to oversee a neighborhood, much less a city. If I could do just what I wanted to do, it would be to spend all of my time in prayer, study, and with my family. I love the fellowship of the church, but overseeing even a small church is beyond any desire that I have, much less a large ministry with a growing number of churches. However, I have found that it is in the place of responsibility that we can have very close fellowship with the Lord. He is the King of kings, so responsibility is what He does. We are in training for reigning with Him. The reigning may not be the reward, but the fellowship with Him in reigning will be our reward. If we want to abide with Him we must learn to find fellowship with Him in all responsibility, and in all authority.

The year of 2000 was a sabbatical year for our ministry. Although we greatly reduced our activities to honor it, I do not ever remember being busier. However, the true issue of a sabbatical is not just resting from work, but it is learning to abide in the Lord and His rest. The Lord helped us to enter His rest by giving us so much to do that we could not possibly do it without Him.

I was reading an article on what separates people like Tiger Woods and other star athletes from their peers who sometimes have more talent. The conclusion was that it was their ability to stay focused and to stay calm under pressure. This is also probably a key issue that separates those who bear much fruit from those who are bearing little or none. However, our focus is not just on our tasks, but also on something infinitely greater—the Lord Himself. We are not just trying to stay calm, but abide in the peace of the Lord.

Studies have shown that one minute of rage can sap the strength of a normal eight hour period. Just being angry for a few minutes can do the same thing. Worry also drains our energy at an amazing rate, even much faster than hard labor. How much more effective could we be, and how much more energy would we have, if we would abide in the peace of the Lord? Could this be why Paul wrote that "...the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (see Romans 16:20)?

This is also a reason why elders in the church cannot be "quick tempered" (see Titus 1:7), or given to outbursts of anger. There are few things that can sap our effectiveness like anger, or fear. In contrast, faith releases the power that created the universe.

We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day by day trusting Him. It is by trusting Him so much that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our lives. It is not worrying, but rather trusting and abiding in the peace of God that will crush anything that Satan tries to do to us. If the Lord created the world out of chaos, He can easily deal with any problem that we have.

I have heard many Christians say that they know the Lord can do miracles, but they just do not know if He will. However, He has said that He always will do miracles if we believe Him. Therefore, as we read in John 6:28-29:

They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may
work the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
Our main job is not to build a church, or a ministry, but to grow in the Lord and to grow in faith. As a ministry we are just now being moved into position to begin our ultimate mission. When we look at the task we will always be overwhelmed because it will always be much bigger than we are. It is at the point where we cannot do it that He takes over. Our goal is not the work itself, but to grow in faith in the One who alone can accomplish it.

We have been promised that we are entering a time when we will see great miracles. We need to also understand that this is probably because we are being thrust into a place where we are going to need them. Even so, that is what most of us have signed up for. We want to be a part of what God is building, not men.

Let us continue to prepare for our purpose by seeing every problem, every obstacle, as an opportunity to see a miracle. Let us determine to abide in the peace of God so that we can see the God of peace crush Satan under our feet (see Romans 16:20). We must also recognize anger and wrath as the great enemies of our purposes. We cannot allow them to gain entry into the fortress of faith that we are called to build. They are the primary enemies who will seek to drain us of our faith, our focus, and even the physical energy that we have been given.