Being married to a coach, we have moved a lot. And I hate moving. Don't get me wrong, I love the new experiences and meeting new people it is the actual loading the boxes, taping the boxes, marking the boxes, moving the boxes, unloading the boxes, and removing the boxes. Boo! It is a lot of work to move. But as much as I have moved physically it doesn't compare with the amount of times I have been moved by God spiritually. When I hear people's stories, I am moved by God. When I go to church, i am moved by God. When I pray, I am moved by God. When I listen to a certain song, I am moved by God. But God has taught me something about moving through a man in the Bible by the name of King Nebuchadnezzer.
Let me just give you a little background on him. He was the King of Babylon and took of Jerusalem which means he also ruled over God's people including Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. He was a king that liked to be king. He made statues of himself so that people would bow down and worship him. He had a whole group of magicians, enchanters and sorcerers that surrounded him. Needless to say, he did not worship the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac,and Jacob. But as I was reading about him in Daniel, I noticed something...there were so many times he was moved by God, but not changed by God. In Daniel 2, God helps Daniel interpret the King's Dream, something none of his magicians could do. The king said, "Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of Kings and revealer of mysteries for you have been able to reveal this mystery." (Daniel 2:47). But in Chapter 3 he builds a statue of Gold that everyone in the land will bow down and worship when they hear the music. He was moved by God, but not changed by God. When Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego refuse to bow down to the statue because of their faith in God, the King throws them into the furnace to be burned. When God saves them, the king says, "How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders!His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom...." (Daniel 4:3) Oh but he continued his doing his own thing in his own way...not willing to "break off from his sins and practice rigteousness" (Daniel 4:27). Once again, he was moved by God, but no changed by God.
Can you relate? I can! I do this all the time! I will listen to a sermon in church or a podcast sermon and I am moved by God. I think, "man, that was awesome." But I leave never being anything different, never changing my ways. I read books like Not a fan, crazy love, Christian Athiest and think, "Wow, those where great books", but do I ever let God do more than just move me? God doesn't want to move me, he wants to change me. If we are not changing then we are not growing. I want to grow, therefore i must go through the growing pains of change. I have to address my own sin and change. I have to address my own pride and change. I have to address my own insecurities and change. I don't want to just be moved by God, I want to be changed by God. When I was writing all this in my journal, I wrote down four stages God takes me through during this process of growing closer to him. First, I have to know with everything in me that I am LOVED by Him. I have gotten stuck so many times as this first stage. I have to know with everything in me there is nothing I can do to make God love me more and there is nothing I can do to make God love me less. I AM LOVED! Second, I have to be MOVED by him through his word, his messages, his people. My heart has to be open to God and not hardened by the things of this world. Third, I have to be CHANGED by him. I have to be willing to really ask God to change my heart, change my ways, change me. Fourth, I have to go through all these stages before I can be USED by him. LOVED, MOVED, CHANGED, and USED. As followers of Jesus, I believe we all have to go through this process. I don't know where you are...maybe you are stuck at believing that you are LOVED. Maybe you are stuck and ok with just being MOVED by God, like King Nebuchadnezzar, but there is no growing relationship with Jesus. Maybe you are in the painful process of being CHANGED by God. Or maybe you have reached the final step of being USED by God. Wherever you are, don't stop! Each phase is a struggle, each phase there is pain, but each phase there is more of God...more of his goodness, more of his faithfulness, more of his love, more of his mercy, more of his grace. MORE of HIM!
King Nebuchadnezzer was lost, but was found. He was prideful, but was humbled. He was moved, but he was also changed. We read in Daniel 5 after God stripped him of his kingdom and left him with nothing but God... it was there, he was changed by God. In Daniel 5:37, he says, "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, for his works are right and his ways are just: and those who walk in pride he is able to humble."
The same God that changed LOVED, MOVED, CHANGED, and USED King Nebuchadnezzar is the same God that wants to LOVE, MOVE, CHANGE, and USE you and me!!
