RESTRAINT

The longer I go with God the more I am coming to understand just how critical restraint is in our lives. Recently I have lost 73 pounds (and keeping it off) and Karen almost 40 (it is much tougher for women to lose extra weight) pounds this was achieved by restraint in our lives. We restrained ourselves to the same foods and portions so we could measure our caloric intake the secret to reducing weight. We had to be consistent and disciplined two words most people today do not like we seem to want to “go for it” or “just do it.” In the early 60s the hearts desire was “if it feels good do it,” well these mottos to live life by will only bring you to ruin in the physical and in the spiritual realm they will end us in death and loss all along our lives. Our lack of restraint will bring to our lives destruction, loss in every relationship we enter, and ultimately death. If you get nothing from this article please hear this; limitations and restrictions (or restraint) bring us to fulfillment and completion. Without this restraint in our lives we will perish and the less of restraint in our lives the sooner we will perish. In Proverbs we read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18) Now this word “vision” here is the not the word we think of when we think of “vision” oh no the word “vision” here in the Greek means (that right) restraint. So let us cut and paste in this truth into the verse and we get, “Where there is no restraint, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18) This makes sense because a vision in doing something will NOT prevent us from perishing, but restraint in our lives will keep us from getting over into areas where there may not be any coming back to God. The Bible is full of examples of people where restraint was dismissed, even scoffed at, and the people perished. The world tells us to, “get ours” or “be all that we can be,” well that is NOT the message of the Bible. We are not to be all we can be we are to be all God wants us to be and for that to happen in our lives we must function in restraint and limit ourselves to only the things God wants for our lives. At the heart of not restraining our lives is an unwillingness to follow God. At the heart of not walking in the limitations and restrictions for our lives is a selfishness and a desire to do what we want to do and not what God wants us to do. Jesus knew this all too well. In Matthew we read, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39) Apparently Jesus had a will that maybe was not according to the Father, but in the end the Father crushed this will out of Him at Gethsemane. It was no coincidence that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane (which means where oil is pressed) to pray after the Passover Meal. In Gethsemane the Father pressed the life and will out of Jesus. And is the servant greater than the Master? As a matter of fact this was the secret of Jesus’ ability and power; it was not that He was the Son of God, but it was that Jesus was restrained and limited in doing only that which the Father told Him to do and if Jesus operated in this same spiritual principle (and he did) is the servant greater than the Master? In John we read, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:19) Did you get that? “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what He seeth the Father do” But you say Jesus is the Son of God and yes He is, but He chooses to do only those things what He sees the Father doing. What restraint what limitation of unlimited power! We run around proclaiming we have the power, but in reality we see little power moving in the church unlike in past days. I wonder why that is? I wonder what power we could have if we did and said only the things the Father tells us to do? It is odd how when we are under restraint and then when loosened somewhat from that restraint we seems to always go to one extreme or the other this is the danger from coming out from under the restraint of the Spirit of God. We often see that with our children when they leave home for college, etc. they seem to go crazy the restrain on their lives from their parents, friends, etc. has been lifted and now they have a great freedom to do as they desire and get off track, There seems to be a parallel to the reaction: the more restraint one is under the more off track they get when loosened, but thank God for His longsuffering, mercy, and in due time if the word of God has been planted in their heart they will return to the restraint they once knew as a child. That restraint that gave them their home: a happy, warm, nurturing, and safe place to live, that same restraint that established an order in their tiny little world. You know it is funny, but the older I get the more I enjoy restraint in my life. When I was young I enjoyed the wild winds of adventure and excitement, but now that I am older I enjoy the quiet moments of the day, the birds, the clouds, the trees, things I have no control over in my life, but are held in restraint by a loving God. The older I get the more I see I must eat from the trees and garden. The older I get the more I see I must limit and restrict myself to the things of God. The older I get the more I see I must restrict my heart and thinking from things of this world. The older I get the more I see I must limit my words and actions, my ministry, the places we go, the churches we minister in. When I was young I went and did what I wanted to do, but now that I am older I see I must restrict myself to what God wants for our lives. The older I get the more I am coming to understand this verse in John, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” (John 21:18) Here is the limitation, restriction, and restraint of God in action. We have no strength of our own so if we go we must go in God’s strength. And “another (not God but a person) shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” Not too many preachers, pastors, and teachers want this revelation for their lives, oh no most ministers want to go and save the heathens around the world, but are not willing to operate in the restraint of the LORD. Remember is the servant greater than the Master? The only verse in the Scriptures that talks about “restraint” is found in 1 Samuel, but it gets to the heart of the issue. We read, “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. 7And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.” (1 Samuel 14:6-7) What a wonderful promise from the LORD that there is no “restraint” to save! But please notice the armourbearer’s reply back to Jonathan, “behold I am with thee according to thy heart” at the heart of restraint is always our heart condition. It is our heart that must align with what the LORD brings into our lives. There is a small general thought that will keep us on track if we can remember when our desires reach out for the wild things of this world or even those things of God we are not ready for. Did you know just because we do not understand something in God does not mean it is wrong. It most often means we do not have the ability in God to handle the revelation. There are things I have been holding before the LORD for years and in His time (not mine) He will be able to share them with us. We must never push for understanding. Wanting to know got Eve, Adam, and mankind in a lot of trouble. When we do we often get an understanding, but it usually is a wrong understanding out from our inability to wait on the LORD. We must wait on the LORD and He will give us what we need to know. Let us never forget, “others may, but we may not.” If we can remember this single, little thought then restraint is well within our grasp. Written by David Stahl