You Can't Lose With The Stuff God Use

Today, I stand to exhort the children of god. I want to remind everyone of the unlimited resource we have in God. God is a friend who is always available to lift every head hanging beneath the weight of unfulfilled expectations. He is there to dry tears flowing from a fountain of despair. He is there to apply a balm to hearts wounded by grievous loss.

“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore”. God’s stuff is comforting.

Seminarians teach us never to use ambiguous words such as “stuff”. The problem is you must define it. Its broad definition could mean different things to different people. For example: My wife often dispatches me to a room of our home to retrieve her “stuff”. If she never clarifies what she is asking for, how would I know that she wants me to return w/ her favorite pair of slippers?

Stuff is defined as the material out of which something is made or formed. It is the essential substance or element. Alternatively, it is what you have in you? Therefore, it leads me to ask… What is God’s stuff? What does it consist of? How does it work? What can we say about God’s stuff?

God’s stuff is creative. God’s stuff created everything from microscopic life forms to the giant whale. His stuff designed the intricacies of DNA and circuitry of the human brain. His stuff scattered millions of galaxies across the night sky and gave the peacock its colorful plumage. His stuff established the consistent laws of physics, chemistry and mathematics. His stuff used dust of the earth as a fabric cloth and fashioned humankind. God has no problem coming up w/ new stuff, for His resources are measureless. It is easy for God to amaze us with His spectacular, transcendent stuff.

God’s stuff is holy; it cannot be defiled. God’s stuff is wise; for known to God from eternity are all his works. God’s stuff is incomparable; there is none like his. For Satan trembles in the face of God’s stuff. God’s stuff is merciful; they are renewed each morning. God’s stuff is infinite; Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain it.

God’s stuff is awesome; it inspires respect and fear. God’s stuff cools the heat of affliction. God’s stuff quiets the raging storm. God’s stuff defies comprehension.

History records the work of God’s stuff. When humankind attempted to build a tower that would reach heaven, God reached into his bag of stuff and sent confusion. When Israel was trapped along the Red Sea, a strong easterly wind blew from his bag of stuff clearing a dry path thru the ocean deep. Elijah prayed on Mt. Carmel, a laser of fire pierced thru the heavens consuming the evening sacrifice. Finally, when the 3 Hebrew boys found themselves in Nebuchadnezzar’s blazing inferno, the cooling qualities of God’s stuff prevented a single hair from being singed. God’s got some stuff.

In case you believe that today, God’s stuff lies dormant like a volcano, I stand as a witness that it is still active. Our patriarchs prayed for civil, equal and human rights. God responded, opening doors that no man can shut. When our money is funny and our credit won’t get it, God grants cash from his inexhaustible petty cash fund. When we stand before judicial authorities with no plea, God sends stuff. Upon further review, the judge announces, “Case dismissed”. When doctors announce the end is near, God sends the stuff of life. You will find more “stuff” in the spittle of God’s mouth, than on all the shelves in your local pharmacy. God’s stuff can’t be beat.

Notice if you please, Paul writes this letter to the church at Rome from the Achaean province of Greece. He is on the final leg of his third missionary journey. During this circuit of Asia Minor, he gathers funds for the beleaguered saints in Jerusalem. This remnant, left after the Christian Diaspora from Jerusalem, was enduring brazen persecution at the hands of their Jewish brethren. The faithful were commonly shunned by society and family, removed from their homes, lost employment, were imprisoned or martyred for the name of Christ.

Paul yearned to visit the saints in Rome, for their faith had been commonly reported throughout the Roman sphere. He wished to use their church as a base of operations for his planned foray into the Western boundaries of the Mediterranean Sea. His life-long strategy had been to evangelize the great metropolitan cities along the route that stretched from Jerusalem to Rome. Paul knew that “A Rome conquered for Christ could mean a world conquered for Christ.”