5 Smooth Stones

He might have seemed to accomplish His calling, yet it would have been at the expense of the redemption of all mankind. Hence, we must not confuse the outward workings of a ministry (in this case rulership over the nations) with the deeper calling (in this case redemption of the world). The young man of God in 1 Kings 13, also mentioned in chapter 13 of this document, was tested in this second fashion and he fell into the trap. Most all ministers will be tested in this fashion of premature advancement or premature release. He was clearly called to be a prophet and had the gifting. Yet God had not yet granted him this commissioning or title. When the older prophet used his discernment in fl a tt ery, by calling the young man a prophet, the young man of God was not discerning enough to deny the subtly of the test by allowing premature application of this title and abide by the word of the Lord clearly given to him. Unfortunately, too many gifted ministers do not pass this test. And what is prematurely advanced, often cannot be built upon signi fi cantly. What the devil realizes he can no longer stop, he often a tt empts to degrade or divert by advancing too fast. There are those ministries which outwardly seem to have accomplished much and may even consider that they have ful fi lled their calling, yet at the expense of leaving their deeper calling unful fi lled. Such is the great importance of not taking short cuts, either knowingly or unknowingly. We can see this o ff er of accelerated advancement come back near the end of Jesus’ ministry when He was in the garden, praying under great duress. It was becoming clear just how torturous and costly it was going to be for Him when he prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” The earlier o ff er of an easier way to accomplish reigning over the earth may have been fresh in His mind, yet He continued, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Ma tt hew 26:39). Thankfully He allowed the joy set before Him to act as a strength and so endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2) and ful fi lled all aspects of His ministry without shortcuts. When He cried out on the cross, “It is fi nished” (John19:30), it certainly was, and fi nished completely. David was another great man of God who was o ff ered a short cut to his calling. On a number of occasions God put Saul’s life in David’s hands (1 Samuel 24; 26) and David did not take Saul’s life. He was encouraged to do so. I’m sure David could have justi fi ed it, either through the law of self-defense or through justifying it as he was already anointed to be king, but he would not get in the way of God’s present anointing to try to rush his own anointing, and God honored him for this greatly. There can be

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