Welcome to Fruitful Fridays!
As my wife began The Restored Orchard and shared her vision with me, I was excited at the opportunity to support her in her endeavors. One thing that we both agree on is that when a husband and wife can study God’s word together, it brings them closer. With that being said, I jumped at the opportunity to be able to partner with her in spreading the gospel, and from there “Fruitful Fridays” was created. I will be dropping in to share what the Lord gives me. My prayer is that a different perspective will be able to specifically minister to men of God.
One Friday evening, my wife and I were sitting on the sofa watching television with our two boys, ages 8 and 1. Our baby boy has absolutely no fear. He will climb to the top of the sofa and will even climb over… if you let him. He has no fear of the edge and to him, it doesn’t matter. My wife jokingly expresses that he is not worried about gravity because his daddy has him. The thing is he knows that his parents are right there and won’t let him get hurt. So he confidently goes about his business of practicing gymnastics on our living room furniture.
The relationship between parents and children is so special because as we have been called to teach them and show them the ways of Christ, they constantly teach us and provide us with reminders of God’s love for us. How often do we operate in fear? Whether it be stepping into a new level in your education, career, or even church, or maybe it’s just in leading your family like the man of God that you are, God’s word has provided you with the tools and knowledge to be the man that he has called you to be. In my past, I had a fear of failure and I have struggled to step up and make tough decisions. I would question if the things I wanted, were what God had for me. Even in my family, I would be very laid back and less proactive in voicing how I felt, or what I heard God say to me. I am reminded of Philippians 4 verse 6 though that says “Do not be anxious about anything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.” What this verse says to me is that:
- There is no reason to worry or be fearful because God is there for you. So often we think that God is just waiting in the clouds for us to call on him, but he is ever-present and omnipresent meaning he is everywhere at all times. We literally can just start speaking to him and he will hear us because he is right there with us.
- You have to have a line of communication with Him. He is there and wants to help with whatever you may need or want but if you walk around ignoring him most of the time, the connection becomes bad. I look at it like this, if you are traveling and talking on the phone and then you hit an area with a bad signal. Isn’t that frustrating to be able to hear bits and pieces of what the other person is saying? God wants a strong connection with you and he is always ready to talk.
- Give him thanks constantly. The verse says, “with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known” Thanksgiving comes with the request. So often we pray for something and we wait, and wait, and wait because we have been taught or even just learned from experience that we give God praise for what he has done. In reality, we should give God praise for what he has done, what he hasn’t done, what he might be doing, and what he will do far in the future.
We should always give God thanks, and praise, and glorify his name first because God delights in our praise (Psalm 147). With that, we know that we can talk to him because he is with us and that we don’t have to fear because he will guide us.
