Thursday, January 13, 2011

Fleece-ifying
By Elin Henderson

“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”
Psalms 37:7 (NKJV)

You’re probably thinking, “She’s been in the African Bush too long. Now, she’s inventing new words!” I guess I am! In the story of Gideon in Judges 6, we read that Gideon used wool fleeces to request signs from the Lord that would confirm His instructions. At times, God, in His graciousness, allows us to confirm His will with fleeces, as well.

You could ask, “So, what then is fleece-ifying?” Well, I think of it as a cross between justifying and fleece-placing. We try to justify our plans and our ideas with a fleece. In a way, we try and force the hand of God. Now, we wouldn’t call it that; we would spiritualize it into a holy thing, but still, it is our trying to make God work on our terms, instead of His. Setting up our plans and then asking God to bless them.

Satan tried this tactic with Jesus in the wilderness. He tempted Jesus with throwing Himself off of the pinnacle and seeing God intervene and save Him. But, Jesus knew that in so doing, He would be “fleece-ifying” or forcing the hand of God! Now, God would HAVE to work to save Him! (Luke 4:1-13)

It is very easy for us in ministry to “fleece-ify” our way into and out of things. We fail to walk in tune with His heartbeat and His pace, and instead try and force His hand to work out our plans. “God, You need to work in this way so that the people will see who You are!” It sounds good, but is it really what He desires? Whether it is moving ahead too quickly in ministry and then asking Him to bless our mess, or insisting He heal or move in a certain way to show Himself, we fail to see that He will show and prove Himself on His own terms, not ours. We want to orchestrate the scene and have Him just show up for the big finale!

So, is it wrong to set out fleeces and ask the Lord for His confirmation? It’s debatable, but I hope not, because I’ve done it. Perhaps the line gets crossed when we try to manipulate these fleeces into something more than they are designed to be. So, whether it is in ministry, family matters, work situations or just life in general, may we be careful to steer clear of trying to force the Lord’s hand by “fleece-ifying” our circumstances and, rather, rest and wait patiently for Him to move!

GOING DEEPER:
1. Can you think of think of a time you’ve tried to “fleece-ify” a situation?
2. Memorize today’s key verse.

FURTHER READING:
Judges 6; Psalms 25:5, 116:7

Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to ten-year-old Callie and eight-year-old Elias.
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