Mike Focht 7/25/2025
Anyone who wishes to be a servant of God will eventually face a specific temptation. That temptation will come in the form of a formula. We will be tempted to look away from God and seek to serve Him by following a path that another man or woman has supposedly proven. In our day of shameless self-promotion, practically anyone who has accomplished anything for Christ immediately becomes an expert and writes a book on how we too can end up like them: blessedly rich, a movement leader, a missionary, a successful author or blogger, an evangelist, a mega-church pastor, a Christian music star, or a happy mother. They may even get a documentary or movie about their life if they are successful.
Because we love Christ and want our lives to be worthy of the kingdom of God, these formulas appeal to us. What Christian doesn’t want to find a surefire way to live a life of righteousness, godliness, and fruitfulness? Following a pathway others have blazed is always easier than discovering a way for ourselves. The problem is that we assume that there is a way for anyone to walk when the Scripture is clear that there is only a way for me to walk.
Many Christians can witness that God has used their lives in remarkable ways, but even if so, it is a dangerous assumption to think that they may have discovered a formula God will honor in any life. Even Peter fell into this trap when he asked Christ what would become of the apostle John’s life. Christ’s response was personalized: If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me.
First, we must realize that the grace that God gives me to serve Him as an individual is not promised to anyone else. God gives each man and woman various levels of ability, faith, grace, and strength of heart, mind, and body. Those who seek to follow a path not in harmony with their personal calling will burn out at best and forsake God’s kingdom at worst. I can never assume the grace and gifting God has for me is what He has for others.
Second, we cannot make God’s work a public template. God doesn’t want every Christian to be rich, successful, and famous. God doesn’t want every pastor to have a mega-church, radio ministry, or book series. There is no secret three-step process that will cause God to work in one life what He has willed to work in the life of another. He places us in the world and His Church, where it pleases Him, and no secret method will ever change what pleases Him.
If this truth grates against our flesh, it is because our faith is weak. Our wicked hearts will always find it easier to look to man than to look to God in faith. Many Christians would much rather look at whatever their heart desires and discover the secret of reaching that end through a “proven” formula than look to God and wait upon Him for whatever His will is. Fashioning ourselves into whatever we want—even if it is Christiany—is in fashion, but it is a path that only leads to frustration and pain for many. And we never happen to make movies or write books about those tragic stories.
Faithful servants of God experience freedom because they don’t need to know a single thing about another human being to understand what God wants from them personally. God’s servants need only be concerned with His voice. We don’t need to worry about the tasks or formulas God has commanded the other servants in His house. Our Master does what He pleases. We do what we are told.
Moses didn’t need to brainstorm with Aaron to figure out his calling. Humility, years of loneliness, and learning to take off his sandals and bow his head on holy ground were much more critical steps. Those things were learned between him and God and not from studying the “How-To” methods of other successful men his age. I imagine Moses’ expectations would have fallen short of what God had in store for him. God’s ways are always best.
Of course, Jesus was the perfect example of this. Jesus said of Himself, I do always those things that please Him. Jesus could have done anything, but His secret was only doing what the Father showed Him. As Christians, we do not simply serve. We serve God, and there is a big difference between those two. Just doing acts of service can still allow us to place ourselves first. Serving God puts God’s will and pleasure before our own. When we hear from Him, what is the point of reading the so-called secret of any other man or woman?
All we need to ask is this: God, what is your pleasure for my life today? And if we give Him time to speak and humble ourselves before Him, He will not leave us undirected. The Christian life is more than Christian action. Every act of our lives should become a personal act of obedience.
My fellow believers, don’t fall into the trap of trying to bait God into action by following the “How-Tos” of another man. Do not look to men or put your trust in them. Only God knows how to form you into a vessel fit for His good use. Look to God! Wait upon Him! The only secret is hearing from God ourselves and serving Him in obedience from the heart. Only in that personalized path will we find God, gifts, grace, and glory beyond.