Dr Charles Stanley - Staying by the Stuff

Now let me just say something, I'm going to tell you this right out of my heart.

I believe if you've been saved by the grace of God, you ought to be doing something in

the name of Jesus Christ to serve Him.

Amen?

And you see, if you're not, then you need to ask yourself the question, can you honestly

truly justify the reception of all of God's blessings and give almost nothing in return?

In emergencies, we count on medics to render aid, but the person who answered your call,

the ambulance mechanic, and the technician who made the equipment are also invaluable.

Today's edition of In Touch, the Teaching Ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, reminds us of

the crucial role of those who work for the Lord behind the scenes.

Our series, Pursuing God's Heart, continues now with a message titled, Staying By The Stuff.

Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's Message.

If you'll turn to the 30th chapter of First Samuel, and you recall at this time in his

life that David now for some 10 years has been running, and he has gone over to the side

of the Philistines out of a desperation and lack of faith and trust in the Lord at this

particular time of his life, and as a result of that, he had a little place called Zicklag,

and while he was gone, the enemy came in and burned him out, burned everything, wiped

him out, took all of his, both of his wives, his children, all of their cattle, took everything,

they didn't kill anything, they just took it all with them. Then you recall he inquired

of the Lord and asked God if he should pursue his enemies or what he should do, and the Lord

told him to pursue them, and he would recover everything. So he had 600 men with him.

And if you recall beginning in verse 9 of chapter 30, so David went, he and the 600 men that were

with him, and came to the Brook Besor where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued

he and 400 men for 200 abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the Brook

Besor. Now they marched somewhere around three days. And as a result of that, they were faint,

and of course they'd been through a tremendous emotional battle here, coming up on their own

little village and all of a sudden everything that they owned and everything that they love was gone.

And best they knew they were probably destroyed, but they were all gone. So they had to go on

through that kind of psychological problem, and now 200 of them were unable. It wasn't that they

just bugged out on the next battle. They were unable, the Scripture says, to keep on going,

to pursue their malachites. They didn't know how far they were gone, and how long it would take.

So David took on the two-thirds of his army, 130 left behind. He took two-thirds of them with him,

and you'll recall what's happening. Here is David with his renegades coming back on their way back

from battle, having retrieved everything as God had promised him. When they came to the

Brook where these 200 men had been protecting their belongings, and they didn't have many,

probably at this time, because so much had been taken. They were there protecting what had remained.

And no army can go to battle unless the lines of communication to the rear are taken care of,

no soldier is going to fight on a foreign field if he thinks his own field is in great jeopardy.

He will not do it with all of his heart. So in the way they fought their battles in those days,

there were always those who took care of the camp, while those went out to fight. But of course,

this was not a normal army because they were a bunch of scavengers really, who'd sided up with

David because they were sort of outlaws among Saul's people, the king. So they had become

marauders and like revolutionaries in their country. But on this particular occasion when they

were going out to battle to retrieve everything, surely these 200 men would have gone to fight because

it was their wives and their children who'd been taken, and they certainly weren't copying out.

And the phrase here in this passage in verse 10 that says they were faint, it means they

were totally exhausted. So a third of them were left behind. Now when the ones who had gone to battle

came back, you would think the natural normal thing would be to express their gratitude for those

who stayed behind so they could fight with confidence and retrieve their goods and take the small

and the booty out of the amallicates. But that wasn't their attitude at all. And you see,

they had no gratitude for the fact that they'd retrieved everything they lost.

No thanksgiving for those who stayed behind who were really sick because they could not continue

the march. But it's interesting what a different character David was. When he saw them, he called

them brethren. He saluted them because they stayed behind and took care of their belongings.

Now, what I want to do is I want to draw six simple principles out of this that I want you to

apply to your heart. And I can't apply to your heart. You're going to have to do this. You asked the

spirit of God to apply this to your heart because there's some of you seated right here who have

probably have the idea, well, what I'm doing is not really all that important. But he says when he

came back, yes, we are going to divide the spoiler light. And I want to show you some principles

here that I think you'll see why David was spared what he said. So first of all, let me say this,

that for somebody to stay by the stuff and that is to stay at home, so to speak, to do the mundane

things, the things that are behind the scene, carrying as he says, carrying by the stuff. It is

absolutely essential for somebody to stay with the stuff in every single enterprise in life.

Now, you think about the people in a big business, you've got the executive, the president,

you've got the board of directors, you've got all these people, you've got salesman out there,

but you can trace it all the way back to the man who cleans up the office,

the man who repairs the water fountain, the secretary who types their fingers to the bone all day,

the people who are shuffling papers, the fellow who's out there doing his job and building the

business as a salesman couldn't do his job if somebody was staying back in the office, shuffling

papers, cleaning up the mess they make, if somebody weren't doing that, the business could not

operate. Now, you see, what sometimes we think of those mundane things are not very important.

There's a principle here that there is no enterprise, whether it is a business or a home,

or a church, or an army that can function as somebody stays back there doing the things that seem

to be unimportant. And if you're serving on a committee, for example, and you're one of 10 members

you say they can do without me, not really, it is absolutely essential that somebody stay

with the stuff. Somebody's back in the back room doing the mundane things because if they weren't

doing their part, everything else that seems to be publicly so important could not be done.

The second principle I want you to see here's this, that it can be more demanding to

stay by the stuff, it can be more demanding to stay by the stuff than to be out in the battle or

in the public because sometimes those jobs demand more of us. Sometimes they demand in some

businesses more hours. Sometimes they demand more talent and ability. Sometimes they demand just

pure share, determination, and willpower. There are a lot of people who are serving the Lord in

the nicks and cracks and corners of this world who are serving him that nobody will ever know.

What about the fellow who works on the engine of the airplane? The fellow who's repairing a boat

motor? He's got grease on his hands. You know, people don't feel Riddick's ball, let's get in a

pray for those mechanics. How many of you have felt really excited about praying about a mechanic?

But the missionaries couldn't even get in the jungles without the pilot and the pilot couldn't fly

unless the mechanic kept the plane going and the missionary couldn't be out there without the

school teacher back in the compound teaching their children. It's the folks who stay by the stuff

that make it possible for the work to be done out there on the field. Somebody says,

I'm moving the gun to mission field, but I shouldn't want to end up in some job being a secretary

somewhere. That's no way to serve God. Is that right? Does that say something about your rebellious

spirit or your pride? If you can't be number one in the out front, you will be anywhere?

David said, they will share equally. Those who carry about the stuff and those who go to battle

will share and share life. Because unless somebody stayed by the stuff,

unless somebody does the mundane things, and if somebody does the very, very important quiet hidden

job, the other work wouldn't be done. And sometimes we don't see it that way. The third thing I

want you to notice is this, that for those who stay by the stuff, it requires a certain kind,

a certain quality of person to stay by the stuff. That is to be willing to do that kind of job.

And I think the one description of that kind of person is faithful. Let me tell you something.

It takes a certain kind of person with a servant spirit to be willing to be number three,

number five, or never have their name mentioned. And listen, be just as faithful, just as dependable,

and never have any recognition. I believe it takes more of something on the inside of that person

that it has somebody who's always up in front and getting all the praise on the glory, which they

don't deserve anyway. You know what that ought to say to all of us who supervise other people?

I'll tell you what it ought to say to his friend. Don't overlook the guy who's out there giving

his best and nobody even though you know when you miss folks like that when they quit.

That's when you miss him. We take people for granted. And sometimes it's the folks who are staying

by the stuff without recognition that may be making a greater contribution to some degree than some

folks who have the recognition. Fourth principle I want you to notice here, and that's this.

That some of the people who stay by the stuff may have that responsibility for reason

beyond their control. Sometimes the people who have the responsibilities of staying

by the stuff may have that responsibility for reason beyond their control. These 200 men,

it's not they didn't want to fight. You can imagine how you would have felt if somebody had

your wife and your children, oh, your cattle and your jewels and your gold and your silver,

and you were going to fight, would you want to sit by the creek somewhere and drink cool water?

These people were angry. They wanted to fight, but they were exhausted.

So they weren't there because they wanted to be. They were there because they couldn't help

the situation. And I'll tell you, it grieves my heart when I see people mistreat folks

who really can't do any better than they're doing, who really can't, will never be able to rise.

And so they have a particular job on a particular level and that's as far as they'll ever go.

I want to tell you something. God loves the fella who does his best, where he is.

We'll never be able to do much more than he's doing, but he does it faithfully.

And there's some folks they can only serve in a certain place.

And there's some people who can't sing too well. So they'll never be a member of the choir.

They'll never stand behind any pulpit or with any mic in their hand and ever sing a solo.

They'll sit in the audience and they'll do the best they can.

You see, what it really takes is somebody has got to be willing to do the little things

that are not little in God's eyes because you see a battery is just one little part of an automobile,

but just take it out and see how far you get.

What I want you to see is this, there's no such thing as an unimportant place.

Somebody had to stay by the stuff to protect it while the men fought the battle and brought

home the booty. All right, the next thing. If you stay by the stuff in your life, whatever that calls

for in your particular life, you may be misunderstood by some folks. And you see these 200 men,

when the others came back, they said, we're not giving them anything. They should have gone to

battle with us and therefore we're not going to give them anything. You know, if people don't really

know you, sometimes they they project things on you that don't belong to you. Why don't you do so

and so? Sometimes they may not understand. And you know, I fell and told me a lesson. I used to

work in the textile mills and they have a one day I was sort of golden this guy about why he was

still there. I said, man, you ought to get yourself out and get an education, do something worthwhile.

He looked at me. He said, I am doing something worthwhile. I said, well, standing here by this old

bleach range eight hours a day, five days a week and sometimes seven days a week. I said, I don't

really think that's doing a whole lot. He said, and I remember what he told me, he said, that's just

the way you look at it and you walked off. Well, he sort of bugged me a little bit and so the next

day I apologized him, I said, look, I'd like for you to tell me why you're doing this. Then he began

to tell me because of a family situation whom he had to support and some of his family's father

passed away and as he and his mom and I think a couple of a smaller children, he said, this is all I

can do right now. Now, from my point of view, I thought he ought to be doing something better,

but God put him there to help make a living for his mother, get his sister and brother through

school. And of course, it may be that I don't, he may do something else, but he may work, though,

I can remember meeting folks who'd worked there 40 years in the same department. And I would just

say, I just think, how in the world can anybody do this? And you think I didn't like the place and

you're right, I didn't. And I was projecting my dissatisfaction, everybody around me saying,

man, why do you want to work here? And somehow, after a while, I looked back over the time and

realized they seemed to be so content and I was the guy who is discontent about the whole matter.

What we do is we project on other people what we think they ought to do.

And sometimes that's dangerous. And sometimes where we are, we may be misunderstood. And if we are

forget it, the last thing I want to say about this is this, if you and I'll stable the stuff,

God will reward us equally. If we'll do a good job, he will reward us equally as well as those

who may be more public. And their responsibility is more profound. And their responsibilities

with greater praise from the world, God will reward us accordingly. The principle that David

instituted here, he said, from then on, that when men went to battle, they had to share equal

with those who had to stay at home and protect the home of the camp. And you see, God doesn't settle

his rewards down here. And I'm sure that there are many, many people who are going to be rewarded

equally, if not more so, who've had one of those staying by the stuff jobs. Nobody will ever know

them, but God knows them. And He knows they're there and they're doing what is absolutely essential,

but they're responsibility. And I'm sure of this. They're going to be some praying saints whose names

will never get in the newspaper except on the obituary column and then it's too late for praise.

When they stand before Almighty God, most of us will be in the swap places with their reward

any day because they've been praying saints, hidden away, interceding before God, but maybe some of us.

We didn't even know they were praying. And I believe the praying folks will be far more rewarded

than the preaching folks that all balances out as to how God rewards people. All I'm saying in this

whole message right here is this. It isn't where you are. It's really important. It's what you're

doing, where God's placed you. And Hudson Taylor put it this way, missionary to inland China,

and his testimony of how God worked in his life, one of the greatest blessings of my own life.

Here's what he said. In fact, this was sort of the motto and the whole life purpose. He said,

be God's man in God's place doing God's work in God's way. Write that down. I'm going to give

it to you. Take it. Just write that down. All right. Get your pencil. Because everybody

ought to adopt that for their own life. Now you can just replace man with woman if you're a lady.

Be God's man in God's place doing God's work in God's way.

There is no way to fail by a body by that simple little quote. One of these days the Bible says it

is a point that the man wants to die after this judgment. One of these days you're going to die.

You're going to have to give an account for your life. And if you spent your life on yourself,

wasting away on the mundane, unimportant things of life, and you stand before him without Christ,

you're going straight to hell. Number one, and secondly, you're going to suffer according to

what you do with your opportunity. But suppose you are saved. He says we're going to be judged

according to three basic principles. First of all, according to the truth or light of truth that

you and I have known and brother, you and I have had a lot of it. According to the opportunity that

God's given us in our life and thirdly, according to what we did with that opportunity.

And friend, those three principles level out the judgment seat of Christ. Everybody will be judged

fairly and justly accordingly. How much truth do we have? How much opportunity did he give?

And what did we do with the opportunity we had? For some people it means staying with the

stuff. And what I'm asking you is this, are you willing to be faithful? Give your best.

Give your all where God has put you at this time in your life. If you are God's man or woman,

in God's place, doing God's work at this particular time in your life,

you're going to have a sense of contentment until God changes that. And I want to encourage

you to examine this simple thing. Am I really doing my best? Where God has placed me?

You're listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Are you working in God's strength and for his glory? Remember you honor him with your humble

faithfulness and your diligence. To listen again, click today on radio at intouch.org.

And learn more about serving God by serving others with the free resources on our website.

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The title is Staying by the Stuff or Order the Entire Teaching Set

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by using the number 1-800-intouch. You can also write to us at intouch post office box 7900

Atlanta, Georgia 303-57 or call 1-800-intouch. We tend to place more value on people who do jobs

that are more visible, but the Apostle Paul reminds us of the significance of all believers.

That is just ahead in today's moment with Charles Stanley.

But what is it about the message of the cross that can transform you every day of your life?

In his book The Gift of the Cross, Dr. Charles Stanley walks us through scripture to show us

how to see the cross in a new light, the gift of the cross or yours today at intouch.org slash store.

From the pastor's heart is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley

to receive in-touches from the pastor's heart letter call 1-800-intouch or visit intouch.org slash pastor's heart.

You're listening to Intouch. Do you ever feel like you aren't important to the function of the

church? With encouragement for believers, here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

That is, you are saved and he's equipped you. He's given you a spiritual gift or gifts.

And so you are equipped to do something for God. Now, what does he say? He says, but now has God

set the members, every one of them in the body as it pleased, home, as it pleased God.

So you're not here by accident. And listen, I hate to have to tell you this, but you're not even

here to choose for yourself what you want to do. You're here to find out what God has ordained

that you do. It says, he said, everyone in the members in the body, as it has pleased him. Look

in verse 21, and the eye cannot stand on the hand. I don't have any need of you nor again can the

head sit at the feet. I have no need of you. No, much more, those members of the body which seem

to be more feeble are necessary. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable

upon these, we bestow more abundant honor. And our uncommon parts have more abundant

commoners of beauty. He goes on to talk about them. What he's simply saying is this, the hand can't

say that I'm not needed. The head can't say the feet. We don't need you. No, the feet can say

the head. We don't need you. What a monstrosity that would be a headless body. But you see my friend?

If you say, the church doesn't need me. They've got all the money they want. They've got all the

talent they want. They've got all the people they don't need me. I want to tell you first of all,

you can't find that in the body. That is, his unscripturalism can be, there is no such thing as a

body of believers who does not need every single person in the body. You can find out more about the

Christian life at intouch.org. And please share how this program has encouraged you to get to know

Jesus better and live for him. Next week on Intouch, some passages of scripture are really hard

to understand. So be back to look at one of those sections of the Bible as we continue our study

of first Samuel on Intouch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.

This program is a presentation of Intouch Ministries at Lana, Georgia and remains on the station

through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.