When I get to hear preaching, I take notes. It helps me pay attention and follow the preacher. I have a notebook with notes from over a decade ago from Bible conferences and special meetings I have attended. I recently reviewed some notes and found some interesting things. One sermon, I didn’t have a Bible verse written down. Could it be possible someone preached without using the Bible? Hopefully not. I have a lot of quotes I’ve taken down through the years. I noted from one sermon that we should not “get out in front of God” in your life choices to stay in his will. You also don’t want to get behind God either. You need to stay perfectly balanced in His will. Otherwise, you’ll get out of God’s will, and your life and service will be out of balance. That sounds like good advice, no? Who wants to bypass God? Who wants to run so fast towards a goal that they run ahead of God and escape his will? But you also need to avoid being a slowpoke and getting left behind. That’s not Biblical.
I had knee surgery not long ago, and part of the physical therapy was to stand on some type of balance contraption. Think of it like a skateboard with a ball underneath, right in the middle. As soon as I stepped on it, I began to shake, trying to balance. I would go forward, then lean back to correct, but over-correct, and then fall off. If I leaned too much to the right, I would go back to the left but then start to wobble that way. I never stopped rocking and shaking. That’s what it’s like, trying to “not get out in front of God” in your life. Because God doesn’t speak to us like that, nor does God guide us that way.
I believed this for a long time, and it paralyzed me. I would sing a song in church and wonder if I was really singing in the Spirit or the flesh. Was I getting out in front of God? Maybe the devil was trying to get me not to sing by making me think I was out before God. I should sing more and sing louder. But what if the devil knew I would think that and anticipated that move? I was listening for the still, small voice. I was trying to be sensitive to the whispers of God. It was all about me. It made me miserable, because I was the problem but I was also the solution. That’s what this type of mindset does, it makes you look inward. All the time, living in your own head. Where the Bible talks of loving and serving one another, this way of thinking makes it all about you. The Bible says loving others and God is the law’s fulfillment. God’s will is revealed in the Bible. Read it, hear God’s voice there, love God and love your neighbor.
