27 May 2010 Devotion for Today “Seeking Great Things” Jeremiah 45:5

27 May 2010 Devotion for Today "Seeking Great Things" Jeremiah 45:5

 
 

        This story is told that when Charles Haddon Spurgeon was eighteen years old and seeking God's will for his life, he felt the need for theological training. Both his friends and his father advised him to attend college. So he made application to Regent's Park College, and an interview was set between the head of the college and young Spurgeon. The meeting was to be in Cambridge at the home of Mr. Macmillan, the publisher. Spurgeon rose early that morning and had special prayer, seeking God's guidance in the matter.

 
 

        At just the appointed time, he showed up at Macmillan's house. He rang the bell, and a servant showed him into the parlor. There he sat for two hours until at last his patience could stand it no longer. He called for the servant and was horrified to discover that she had forgotten to announce his arrival, had not let anyone know he was there, had forgotten all about him.

 
 

        Meanwhile the head of the college had sat waiting in an adjoining room until his patience, too, had been exhausted, and he had left Cambridge for London by train without the interview ever having taken place.

 
 

        Spurgeon was deeply disturbed, and his first impulse was to run after the man, to chase him to London, to explain what had happened. But he took a long walk out in the country to calm down, and by-and-by a verse of Scripture came to his mind so forcibly that he almost seemed to hear it audibly—Jeremiah 45:5: "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not!"

 
 

        The Lord seemed to be telling him not to worry about the misunderstanding, not to make extraordinary efforts to clear it up, but to take it as the Lord's will and serve the Lord humbly where he was. As a result, Spurgeon never did make it to college, but it didn't matter. He became the most powerful, successful and fruitful minister in the history of Victorian England, and he later said that he "a thousand times thanked the Lord very heartily for the strange providence which forced his steps into another and far better path."

 
 

        I have to admit that there have been times when I, as a pastor, have been tempted to think, "I can certainly preach better than Billy Graham! So why am I not in a big church by now?" A few years ago, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "When you are as close to Me as Billy is, then maybe one day you will be!" Since that time, God has not assigned me to any big churches, but I am in, right now, one of the greatest churches that I have ever known. Do you seek great things for yourself? Don't seek them, Jeremiah says. They will find you. Paul Robinson, veteran missionary to Uruguay, to fellow missionaries at his retirement reception in 1990 said: "Don't worry about doing something great. Be great by doing what you can where God has placed you. It will pay off after awhile."

 
 

Have a blessed day!