The What, The How, and The When, Part 2

(Originally posted August 13, 2009)

Last week I defined the WHAT, HOW, and WHEN.  Now let’s take a look at four examples.

Two Negative Examples:

In Genesis 15, the Lord promised Abram a son but things went really bad after that.  Abram knew the WHAT (a promised son) but he didn’t know the HOW and the WHEN.  Nonetheless, Abram moved forward and had relations with Hagar who birthed Ishmael.  Abram thought he knew the HOW (relations with Hagar) and the WHEN (anywhere between one to ten years [13:12, 16:3]).  This pre-emptive decision has had the ripple effect of the Arabs and Jewish people at war with each other for thousands of years because Abram didn’t wait on the Lord.  From Abram’s consequence, we glean wisdom about the WHAT, HOW and WHEN.

In Exodus 2, Moses had an idea that he was to be the deliverer of the Hebrew people, but went about it the wrong way.  He knew the WHAT (be a deliverer) but not the HOW and WHEN, so when he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew he took matters into his own hands and killed the Egyptian (his own interpretation of the HOW and the WHEN), causing him to flee to the wilderness for forty years. From Moses’ consequence, we glean wisdom about the WHAT, HOW and WHEN.

Two Positive Examples:

In 1Samuel 16, David was anointed the future king of Israel (the WHAT) but he allowed the Lord to bring about the HOW (through lessons in the shepherd fields and in Saul’s court) and the WHEN (forty years later).  Even when Saul died, David was still sensitive to the WHEN (he asked the Lord if he should go up to Judah – 2Sam. 2:1).

Paul knew he was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46-47) – the WHAT.  But he was constantly sensitive to the leadings of the Spirit who told him the HOW and the WHEN.  Although he was called to preach to the Gentiles, the Spirit didn’t allow him to do so in the Phrygian and Galatian regions (Acts 16:6).  The Lord did open a door to Macedonia but Paul only went when the Lord directed him to do so (Acts 16:9-12).

Please keep in mind that the WHAT, HOW, and WHEN won’t always be a grand revelation.  Sometimes it will be small impression from the Lord that comes through your prayer or journaling times.  As I mentioned in the article “Steward This Season”: God sometimes won’t give us the big picture, sometimes He’ll just give us the next step.

You’ll find when you press into the Lord and wait for the WHAT, HOW, and WHEN, you will avoid the costly consequences that befall leaders.

Since writing this entry the Lord has confirmed that I am to attend the conference in Tennessee (the WHAT) in the Fall (the WHEN).  Now I’m just waiting on the HOW.

© Gary Lau 2009
All rights reserved.  This article may not be distributed, forwarded or duplicated without prior permission from the author.


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