The Four Great Arenas

My Dear Friends,

 

There are many scriptures about God searching, weighing, and testing the heart. He is looking for a people who will follow after Him. Here in Deuteronomy Chapter 8, God is speaking over His people while they were in the desert.

 

[2] “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. [3] “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. [4] “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. [5] “Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

The searching, weighing and testing here is not only for God’s sake but also for our sake. Here we see in verse 5 that God wanted them to know that the testing was to solidify their faith in a God who cares for them despite hardship. The testing was to strengthen all four chambers of their heart.

 God tries the heart through many means. In an attempt to simplify and focus our understanding I have categorized these trials. There are four great arenas in which the heart is tested. These arenas train the heart through trials that are unique to each of the four arenas. Therefore, each arena requires a similarly unique form of discipline to be mastered in order to be successful within that particular arena. Growth and eventual increased strength in the servant’s heart defines success.

The first great arena is authority. We are all under one authority or another. As Christians, we have submitted ourselves as servants to the authority of Jesus Christ. We are now representatives of His heavenly authority here on earth. We are duly authorized representatives of a government that is not earthly. By definition, this makes us ambassadors. Being an ambassador is our first discipline. As ambassadors, we must remember that we are always to represent the will of our sovereign and not our own will. As ambassadors, we also carry the authority of the one who sends us. This is a great responsibility and the source of the Christian’s spiritual power. In 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 the apostle Paul makes this appeal:

[20] Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [21] He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 

The second great arena is provision. We all possess something. Whether it is life, health, wealth, intelligence, or a supernatural gifting. When we are done with this life, God will take an account of what we did with what we were given. We will be rewarded or punished for our use and investment of what was provided to us. In biblical times the steward was in a position of great responsibility. Being a steward is our second discipline. There are many examples of stewards in the bible. The steward was an overseer of the master’s goods and was held responsible for their maintenance and investment. There is a great secret here in all Jesus’ parables about stewardship. He expects fruit. I prefer to use smaller portions of scripture, but this story is important to understanding that provision is not about us; it is about the call and expectation of the Master. The following passage from Matthew Chapter 25 is a warning from Jesus about the seriousness of being a steward:

[14] “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. [15] “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. [16] “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. [17] “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. [18] “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

[19] “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. [20] “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ [21] “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

[22] “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ [23] “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

[24] “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.  [25] ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

[26] “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.  [27] ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. [28] ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

[29] “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. [30] “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

 

The third great arena is community. We have been given a great commission to go out into the world and represent Jesus. His goal is to bind everyone under the one true God as a unified community. We are asked to minister to their physical wounds and their hearts. Being a minister is the third discipline. As ministers, we are directed to help reconcile people to God and then to the others around them. In 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 the apostle Paul makes this observation about our ministry.

[18] Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, [19] namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

 

The fourth great arena is loss. It is in the arena of loss that faith is won. This is a great secret. It is not when we survive loss that makes for great faith; it is when we transform loss into a freewill sacrificial offering that it becomes a heavenly gift to God. Being a living sacrifice is the fourth discipline. Sacrifice is going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, praying a blessing in response to a curse and giving at cost to one’s comfort. This is the furnace where the heart transforms humility, belief, empathy, and courage into spiritual gold. This kind of sacrifice produces a heart of great faith. Sacrifice is about what we are freely willing to give up at personal cost despite personal gain. Sacrifice is not about what God takes as much as it is about what we are willing to give. Our belief in grace, mercy, justice, and forgiveness are all wrapped up in sacrifice. It is being a living sacrifice that excites God. In Romans Chapter 12 the apostle Paul directs believers to yield themselves to God’s will.

[12:1] Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. [2] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

It is the servants that are the successful warriors in the above arenas. It does not always feel that way, but it is true. In the future, we will see that each arena has a special challenge on each chamber of our heart. In the end when God call us to Himself, we will see that being a servant has readied us to face God with a pure heart full of love for Him and others.

 

Your Brother in Christ,

 

DFCutler