Malachi 1:4
Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
There is something about Edom in this verse that I admire greatly. Edom said they were impoverished, but he chose not to stay there. Edom could have easily used his situation as a crutch to blame everyone else, but instead, he chose to build from his situation. Edom chose to take what life had dealt him as an opportunity for greatness and built from that point.
When I was in high school, I played on our basketball team. In one of our games, I was taking a jump shot, and when I came down, my foot landed on another player’s foot, which caused me to roll my ankle. My ankle immediately swelled, and they took me to the hospital for X-rays to see if I had broken my ankle. We learned that instead of breaking my ankle, I tore all the tendons around my ankle. For six weeks, the doctor had an aircast on my ankle, but he finally told me that I had to get off the crutches if my ankle was going to heal. He said as long as I used the crutches, my ankle would continue to stay in its condition and would likely cause immobility if I didn't start using it.
That diagnosis could be used for people who find themselves in Edom’s situation. Your life may be in an impoverished situation, but you must not use your situation as a crutch to stay there and blame everyone else. You can use the crutch that life has not been fair and stay on those crutches the rest of your life, or you can get off the crutches and build something with your life. You are either your own worst enemy or your motivation to build from where you are. You can beg everyone else and put a guilt trip on them for not helping you with life’s unfairness, or you can take responsibility for your life and build from where you are.
Pastor, you have a choice; you can use excuses as to why you cannot build a church, or you can get a faith vision and build from where you are. Any pastor who has built a church had to overcome something that could be a crutch, but those who built a church are those who had a vision of what God could do with their situation, and they started building from their “impoverished” situation.
Christian, you can use life not being fair as a crutch to gripe and complain the rest of your life, or you can get off your crutch and choose to build from where you are. Every person who has done something with their life had an excuse they could have used to complain about life’s unfairness, but they chose to get off the crutches and do something from where they are, and God used their drive and initiative to make something of their life.
God shines brightly in the person’s life who trusts Him enough to stop using the crutch that life has given them to build their life from life’s unfair situation. God shows His power the greatest in those who don't beg others to help them get out of life’s unfairness, but they take the initiative to do something with their life from the situation where life has been unfair. My friend, lay your crutches down, get a vision for your life, trust God, and take the initiative to build from where you are. When you lay the crutches down you will find that those crutches were the only thing holding you back from God doing something mighty through your life.
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