Your exceedingly great reward
Does your 'surrender' have strings attached?
When you sacrifice and pay a high price on your faith journey, what do you really expect in return?
The frustration and anxiety that bubbles up during periods of transition, extended waiting and uncertainty is sometimes born out of a transactional relationship with God.
This time last year, I was lobbying the Lord with my list of answered questions and needs.
Some of these prayers had been on the agenda for a long time, I believed they were scriptural and related to the will of God for my life (and still do), but without any breakthrough I was becoming increasingly exasperated.
Over the last four years or so our family had been making some big sacrifices to follow the Lord, including moving across the world, paying a huge price relationally and financially, laying down personal and business ambitions, and more.
Deep down, I believed I was entitled to the answers and results that I wanted.
It took a while to dig deep and admit that this was what I was feeling - that I had ‘earned’ the right to answered prayer and blessing (and ultimately to get what I want) through my performance.
The truth is, my ‘surrender’ came with expectations.
Sure, sometimes our radical acts of obedience can be connected with the unlocking of near-instant, measurable outcomes in the spirit and the natural realms, as well as honor and celebration from both God and the people around us.
But sometimes we’re left empty handed.
Sometimes there’s silence.
Sometimes, we don’t get to see or understand the bigger picture.
And this is the place where motives are tested.
Rewards are biblical
To be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong wanting to be rewarded by God.
Rewards were His idea in the first place, and there are countless scriptures to back this up.
There are heavenly rewards for those who are persecuted (Matt 5.12, Luke 6.23), who serve God faithfully (1 Cor 3.8, Rev 22:12) and pass the test of fire and endure (1 Cor 3:10-15).
As these rewards are not only spiritual, they are for today, as ‘the laborer is worthy of his wages’ (1 Tim 5:18).
From the scriptures, we see an emphasis on rewards for people of faith and faithfulness.
'But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.' - Hebrews 11:6
Rewards are for those who are pursuing the Lord, for His sake, not for the wages, benefits or the promises themselves.
Again, we see this modelled in the life of Abraham.
There is a higher reward
In Genesis 14 we see a battle of the kings, where Sodom and Gomorrah are defeated and Abram’s nephew, Lot, is captured and taken away along with his family and all of their belongings.
Abram gets word of what has happened and goes after his family, with his own trained army.
He doesn’t just win the battle and get his family back, he gets everything - all the goods, all the people (Gen. 14.16).
He tithes to Melchizedek, in that beautiful encounter with the Christ-like figure which has informed much of our theology on the 10 percent tithe.
Everything else was Abram’s.
'Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”' - Genesis 14:21-24
There was an open door in front of Abram.
He had his family back and a huge pile of riches - seemingly a beautiful reward, right?
There was no reason, that we know of, for him to not take the spoils.
The king offered it to Abram, and there is nothing in the text to indicate that the Lord had forbidden him to do so.
But there was a conviction deep in his heart for a greater reward - ‘his hand was raised to the Lord’ - utter dependence and trust in God, far beyond what the world could offer.
We could end the article there, but there’s more in Genesis 15.
'After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.' - Genesis 15:1-6
Genesis 15 starts with the inference that Abram is now scared and feeling vulnerable.
He had won an incredible battle, saved his family, turned his back on the riches of the world, but now he’s looking at his empty hands, he’s thinking about his future and legacy, and he cries out to the Lord.
The Lord’s response: I am your protection and your reward.
The reward is a person: God himself.
It sounds overly simple, but we must understand what this really means.
When we pursue relationship with Him, above all else, we enter into a place of friendship and connection with Him.
And from this place of relationship with the All-Sufficient One, every question can be answered and every need is met, because the reward is Him and in Him.
Jesus spoke similarly in Matthew 6:33, when he said ‘seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’.
We see this play out in the continuation of Genesis 15, when Abram directly asks God for his reward - ‘what will you give me …?’
And God responds with the promise that would change his life, his legacy and the world.
Like Abram, when we say no to the ‘good’ the world has to offer, we get the ‘exceedingly great’ reward.
You might argue that through Jesus we have direct access to God already, and this is true.
But as we’ve already identified in Hebrews, God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
There is so much more available to ‘the seekers’.
And when we choose to continuously pursue Him, above the riches, honour and even the great prophetic words and the promises over our lives, our hearts become ready to steward the fullness of what is really on offer.
How do we respond?
Before anything, it is important to do a heart check in partnership with the Holy Spirit to discover the source of the frustration and anxiety.
Are you chasing rewards (answers, provision, blessing etc.), or The Reward himself?
Do you feel entitled to your desired outcomes because of the price you’ve paid on the journey so far?
If so, your relationship with God may have become transactional.
The good news is, you don’t need to stay in this place.
Remember, rewards themselves are a good thing, we just need to re-align and find divine order.
For me, this process started with recognizing that I had taken the wrong path of pursuit, and then repenting.
I then changed my approach to the Lord - instead of burning myself out asking, begging and war-faring, running Him through my list of needs and desired outcomes, and grumbling about the price I’d paid for God on my journey (which was embarrassingly prideful), I shifted towards a focus on His face, His nature, His ways and relationship with Him.
The Lord became the focus, as I lifted my eyes off the rewards to The Reward himself.
Did I all of a sudden get the answers and outcomes I desired? Some, but certainly not all.
But that underlying frustration and anxiety left almost instantly, while peace and grace rushed in.
And as I found divine order in my life, I even discovered that many of those things I was going after just weren’t very important - seeking the face of God has a way of bringing perspective.
Actions
As you navigate your own process, I recommend entering in to a time of meditation, prayer and Spirit-led Bible reading.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if your partnership with the Lord is relational or transactional - “Am I operating out of entitlement?” “Has my ‘surrender’ come with expectations?”
Check in on your belief system on rewards: Read the scriptures about rewards (start with those outlined above), and as you do, ask the Holy Spirit to identify and correct any wrong thinking.
Read Genesis 14 and 15, and be conscious of what stands out to you - relating to your own heart and process.
If you recognize that you have been operating transactionally, or you’ve identified areas of unbelief or wrong thinking, repent and re-align.
Ask the Holy Spirit for help to find divine order: What does it look like, practically, for you to recognize that the Lord himself is your shield and reward and to pursue Him as the priority, while still trusting Him for areas of breakthrough and need in your life?
Posture your heart in gratitude and worship: How unfathomable and beautiful it is to be in relationship with a God who is our shield, our exceedingly great reward, who rewards those who seek Him!
Prayer
Father, I thank you that you are my shield and my exceedingly great reward.
I thank you for your word that says if I seek you and your kingdom first, everything else comes into alignment, and most importantly I come into a greater realm of encounter and relationship with you.
Search my heart and my motives, and lead me into repentance as necessary, especially in the areas where I have partnered with entitlement, fear, frustration and hopelessness.
Holy Spirit, help me to find divine order in my life where the pursuit of you becomes my all-consuming focus, irrespective of rewards and outcomes.
In this process, I ask for your peace and grace to come, especially during
Thank you Jesus for your finished work, which gives me complete access to the fullness of God today and always!
In the name of Jesus I pray,
Amen
Read previous posts from the Waypoint series on transition:
5 - Don’t settle for self-sabotage: The pain and purpose in waiting
4 - The war on rest
3 - Partial obedience vs whole-hearted commitment
2 - Lordship: Who is leading your life?
1 - Grace for the space in-between
And you can read a little more about how the Waypoint journey started.