Often, when we jump into a new commitment, we feel overwhelmed and very inadequate compared to the people who have been doing things for a long, long time. And that feeling can cause us to question whether we have it in us to stick with the commitment we made. We feel like we’re late to the party and perhaps we’re not cut out to do the things that we see others doing so effortlessly and successfully.
And when we think about our spiritual lives, this can easily be something we wrestle with. We make a commitment to serve Jesus and we are on top of the world with every expectation that God will help us in our new walk with Him. But then we start to make mistakes or struggle with understanding passages that everyone else seems to take as the milk of the Word. Or we try to share our faith and we end up offending the people we are trying to save.
Soon, we can get to the place where we grow timid in our faith because we just can’t see ourselves ever catching up to where other people are in their faith. We feel like a failure or wonder if we have what it takes to be like the strong men and women of faith we admire so much, and we start to wonder if maybe we are too late to the party. If you have struggled with thoughts like these, then let me walk you through something pretty amazing about the apostle Matthew. Hopefully, his experience can give us all the confidence found in Jesus when we see how this apostle, late to the party, ended up leaving a big mark for the cause of his King.
Matthew was a tax collector, hated by the Jews and used by the Romans. He was among a small group of people and probably felt that he had no true home. But he wrote some of the most iconic and memorable words about our King. Here is a quick summary of what this tax collector contributed to the world:
Genealogy and Birth of Jesus: Matthew tells us about the lineage of King Jesus and about His virgin birth. He tells us about the wise men who visited and worshiped Him as an infant. We read of the massacre of the babies by Herod who tried to stop this King found in prophecy.
John the Baptist: Matthew also tells us about the cousin of Jesus sent to prepare the way for His coming and we get to see His cousin baptizing Him to fulfill all righteousness. Matthew gives us a glimpse of the Trinity, together as the obedient Son, the voice of the Father, and the Spirit in the form of a Dove.
The Temptation: Matthew also tells us about the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. We witness an epic battle as Satan gives all that he has to tempt Jesus to sin.
Launch of Jesus’ Ministry: Matthew then shows us when Jesus starts His ministry and calls His early disciples. These early men are there from the beginning, right with Jesus as it all begins. They witness the growth in the popularity of the Son of God.
Sermon on the Mount: And in a feat not matched elsewhere, Matthew records one of the most well-known and well-quoted sermons of all time. Matthew records the beloved beatitudes and shows how the Messiah teaches, not like a scribe, but as one who has authority, and how this amazes all the people who hear Him.
Miracles of Jesus: Matthew then shows that this Preacher is more than just a powerful speaker; Jesus can do amazing things. Things like cleansing a leper or healing a gentile’s servant who was paralyzed. Matthew shows us that Jesus could even perform miracles over great distances.
Power of Jesus Over All: Matthew is the one who shows just how powerful Jesus is. He calms the storm with a rebuke and it obeys; He casts out demons and they obey His voice, and then Matthew shows that the power of God in Him confirmed that this Messiah could even forgive sins.
That takes us into the 9th chapter of his book. After the chapter starts with the healing of the paralytic and forgiving him of his sin, Matthew writes about something that seems so nondescript that we may be tempted to read right past it with little thought. Nine chapters into his book, we read this verse:
“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9 ESV).
Did you catch that? The man who gives us some of the most beloved things about our King didn’t even join the Savior as an apostle until after all of these things we read about were already done. In a sense, Matthew was late to the party, wasn’t he? Whether or not he personally witnessed many of the things we read about is not known, but he was not a called apostle when they occurred.
I wonder if Matthew felt any overwhelming feelings of inadequacies as he fell in next to people like Peter, James, and John who had been witnesses of the things from the early ministry of Jesus. I wonder if he ever worried if he had what it took to walk in the shoes of the men who were called before him.
I suppose that human nature could have caused him to become frozen in his inadequacies, but Matthew had one very important blessing that allowed him to not only walk with the Messiah but do so as a man late to the party; one who was able to leave an indelible mark on the Kingdom of Christ with his faith and by writing a letter to the Jews in defense of the Savior. This blessing is the same blessing that we have today. He was blessed by walking hand in hand with the Creator of the universe.
The next time you feel the cold grip of inadequacy tighten around you, lean on the same Savior that Matthew leaned on. It doesn’t matter how late we are to the party or how much others in the Kingdom are already doing when we arrive, Jesus will have meaningful work for each of us to do.
The next time we are worried because we are late to the party, look at the wonderful things that Matthew did for the Kingdom even though it was a third of the way through his letter before the Lord called to him and he followed. When we answer Jesus’ call, we are never truly late to His party.
I am finishing the books of Moses and something struck me. Human nature has not changed much. We look at the people who sinned in the wilderness and condemn them for their unbelief and stubbornness. But often, we are guilty of the very same thing in other ways and never see it. For example:
When God punished the people for fearing the giants in the land, He pronounced the judgment of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. But some people decided to go out and fight, even though Moses warned that God wouldn’t be with them. But they went anyway and died. How many times do we do what we want to do, even when the Lord warns against it, thinking that we can still do things our way and God will accept us?
Speaking of the people who spied out the land, some feared the people in the land more than they feared God and they succumbed to the fear rather than putting trust in God. Boy, is this one for us to heed today. Our society is full of giants willing to persecute us for believing the wrong thing about morality and sin; we live in a time where we must call evil good and we must call good evil; we must kill innocent lives and protect the guilty over the victim that God says we should protect; we must pervert justice rather than administer it. Listen, do we fear the giants in our land who insist we engage in this sin, or do we stand with the few who say, “Do not be in dread or afraid of them” as Joshua told his people?
Are we a people of gratitude or are we like the people who wandered in the wilderness complaining about everything to the Lord? Rather than being thankful for the good that God gives us, do we complain about what we don’t have? Rather than be content with the homes and clothes we are blessed with, do we complain to the Lord about not having what we desire? Are we thankful for the job that we have, or do we despise the blessing of the Lord because we are not in the job that pays more or in the one we want to be in? Are we doing a lot more complaining to the Lord or a lot more thanking? There is nothing wrong with bringing our desires to the Lord as long as we do it with an attitude of thankfulness and not one of complaint.
Human nature doesn’t change much, does it? Let us all be careful not to fall into the same condemnation of unbelief that the Israelites fell into when in the wilderness. It’s a lot easier to do than we think. And we know how the Lord responded to them when they did. Do we really believe that God will overlook our sin if we do the same?
Don’t you love when you have one of those experiences where you get a specific answer to a specific prayer and you know that there is no other conclusion but that the Lord answered you?
It was too specific to be a coincidence.
It was too timely to be by chance.
It’s a reminder that there is a God in heaven and He can do all things. Nothing is impossible for Him.
I had one of those experiences today and I still have chills thinking about it. Not in His answer to my prayer, but that the God of heaven actually listened to me.
These are the confirmations of faith that you treasure in your heart.
While we get up, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day,
Angels are praising King Jesus around His throne at this very moment.
As we speak to our spouses and children this morning,
In heaven, creation listens to the voice of God speaking to them.
As we cope with pain and loss,
Saints who have gone on before live in the presence of Jesus having all tears wiped away by His fingers.
As we begin to deal with those who hate and persecute us,
The sovereign God over all stays His hand in longsuffering before bringing His righteous judgment.
As we look at our calendars for upcoming appointments and vacation plans,
The Father sees the date He will say to His Son, “It’s time… Go bring home your bride.”
“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7 ESV).
Man makes idols to serve.
God makes man to serve Him.
Man carries his idols from place to place.
God carries us where we need to go.
Man prays to an idol with no eyes and no ears.
God hears and sees everything, even the things we do in secret.
We have this choice:
Create a god to serve and do for him what he is incapable of doing for himself,
Or serve the Creator of all and praise Him for doing for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves.
“Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts.
They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
“To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!
They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.
“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (Isaiah 46:1
If we’re honest, don’t we sometimes feel a sense of dread, wondering if we understand the Will of the Lord correctly?
Sometimes, aren’t we tempted to wonder if we will meet Jesus on the Day of Judgment and find out that we were wrong in our understanding of His Words?
While we need to have a healthy respect for seeking God’s Word, having finished the book of Deuteronomy, I take comfort in this one thing:
As long as we seek the Word with our heart, God has placed it where we can find it.
Our problem comes when we quit seeking it or ignore what we know to be true.
Rather than worry about our inability to understand His Will, we need to place our faith in Him and His ability to make His Word known to all who diligently seek it.
Listen to the comforting worlds that Moses leaves the children of Israel about this very thing:
“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14 ESV).
What I need to remind myself is that rather than putting all the weight on my shoulders alone for finding and understanding God’s will for me,
I need to place my faith in Him that He will give me success in finding and knowing His Will for me. I just need to diligently seek it. That’s my part.
And if I do this, then my God will reward me for my diligence.
Yes, I need to learn to place more faith in Him and less in myself.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV).