Here,
we have a vision that was intended for Daniel. The vision was not
given to the men who were with him. While this was, for Daniel, a
unique experience of divine revelation, it raises for us a more general
question: Why is it that some people receive blessing from the Lord,
while others miss out on the blessing?
What
are we to say about those who miss out on God's blessing? They may be
present when the Lord's people are gathered together for worship - but
they have no real sense of the Lord's presence. The power of the Lord
is at work in the lives of others, but nothing happens to them. The
Word goes on one ear and out the other. Others are being transformed.
They remain unchanged. Are we simply to say, "Some are blessed by the
Lord. They give thanks for His blessing. Sadly others miss out on His
blessing - and we can say no more about this"?
In Romans 9:13,
we read these awesome words: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have
hated." Here, Paul is writing about "the purpose of God according to
election." He emphasizes that salvation is "not of works but of Him who
calls" (Romans 9:11).
If
we are to enter into the blessing of God's salvation, we must honour
the principle upon which His salvation is based - "not of works but of
Him who calls."
- "Not of works" - In Ephesians 2:8-9,
Paul emphasizes this point: "For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast."
- "Of Him who calls" - In 1 Corinthians 1:21, Paul emphasizes that "it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." In Romans 10:17, he writes, "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ."
When
we come to hear the Word of God, we must come to God, seeking His
glory. His glory is much more important than our blessing.
If
we are preoccupied with getting a blessing for ourselves, we will find
that His blessing is like the elusive butterfly - so close yet so far.
We are so close to the blessing. It's all around us. Other people are
being blessed. We may ask, "Why them? Why not me?"
There
is a problem with the "Why not me?" question. It's centred on
ourselves. It's asking about what I can get. It's more concerned with
getting blessing for ourselves than giving glory to God.
When
we gather together for worship, let's not get stuck at the
self-centred level of "I hope there's a blessing there for me." Let's
pray that God will lift us up to His God-centred level: "Not to us, O
Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory, for the sake of thy
steadfast love and thy faithfulness!" (Psalm 115:1).
Let's return to the tragic story of Esau: "Esau despised his birthright" (Genesis 25:34);
"Afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected,
for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently
with tears" (Hebrews 12;17).
The
tragedy of Esau is this: everything centred around Esau - what Esau
wanted. He showed his true colours when he "despised his birthright."
Later on, he wanted to get the blessing for himself. He wanted to be
'one up' on his brother, Jacob. What did all this have to do with the
glory of God? There were "tears" - but what was he crying about? There
were "tears" - but they weren't tears of "repentance." Esau was feeling
sorry for himself. Jacob had been blessed - and he hadn't.
Feeling
sorry for ourselves because other people have been blessed and we
haven't - This is very different from seeking the glory of God. God
wants to bless us. We must never doubt that - but we must never forget
this: He does not bless us because we want to get blessing for
ourselves.
God
looks at what's going on in our hearts. Are we filled with envy? - We
see others being blessed and we become obsessed with one thing: "Why am
I not being blessed as much as he is? I deserve blessing every bit as
much as he does."
What does God say about this? - "not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:9); "not of works but of Him who calls" (Romans 9:11).
Let
us pray that God will give us a heart which seeks its glory - and
let's leave the blessing to Him. He will send His blessing to those who
seek His glory: "the vision ... will surely come", "Though it tarries,
wait for it" (Habakkuk 2:3).
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