By David Hobbs
The word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Gen. 15:1)
The Lord has blessed me with a ministry in prayer. I came to that under-standing after a process of elimination. I realized I would never make a good pastor; I was a washout as an evangelist; I could prophesy but was not a prophet. I was a stumbling speaker, uninspiring as a teacher, a loner bereft of social graces, a “leader” everybody liked but nobody wanted to follow…. But as a pray-er, one-on-one with God—I found Someone who would overlook my awkwardness and see deeper into my heart where a passion smoldered for Him. And He in turn found in me someone who would pay the price--in loneliness, invisibility, and obscurity--to draw close to Him: someone who was not in a hurry; someone who had nowhere else to go.
It was a calling made in heaven.
I remember how exciting it was to discover that I could literally call heaven down to earth. As God says so poetically in Job 38:34, I could “raise [my] voice to the clouds and cover [myself] with a flood of water [the refreshing Presence of the Holy Spirit].” I didn’t have to wait for the next church service, I could touch God in prayer almost at will. So I gave myself to prayer.
It was a calling made in heaven.
I remember how exciting it was to discover that I could literally call heaven down to earth. As God says so poetically in Job 38:34, I could “raise [my] voice to the clouds and cover [myself] with a flood of water [the refreshing Presence of the Holy Spirit].” I didn’t have to wait for the next church service, I could touch God in prayer almost at will. So I gave myself to prayer.
It was also exciting to realize that I was now meeting the qualifications of Hebrews 11:6—“anyone who comes to [God] must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I was now earnestly seeking God, what might my reward be?
I used to ponder that question and fantasize on the possible answer. Would it be some great spiritual gift, such that I could enter a hospital and empty the sickbeds? Maybe it would be a financial blessing whereby I could fully fund the missionaries. Maybe it would be my book on the bestseller list with multitudes being saved because of my testimony. Maybe maybe maybe. Thus did my mind wander.
All the while I was having great experiences in God: walking around the church in the middle of the night pouring out my heart to Him in song, being overcome with weeping so I couldn’t sing anymore, weeping at the revelation of His love for me though the cross, at His passion in seeking me out from the depths of my sin, His stubborn refusal to give me over to the depravity I chose for myself--the many times He refused to give up on me. Other times He let me declare His word at the top of my voice under a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit, which I could feel breaking down the kingdom of darkness all around me. Still other times He let me pour out my heart to Him in song in what I knew were command performances for the angels (“The angels have requested that you sing ‘How Great Thou Art’ one more time, and be sure to hit that real high note at the end!”). And all the while I was wondering, “This is so great, what could my reward possibly be in addition to all this?” Ha!
Then one day it dawned on me…. How could I have been so blind? I didn’t have some grand reward waiting out there that He was going to drop in my lap someday. He was my great reward, and I’d been getting it all along! Like He said to Abram, “I am thy exceeding great reward!” He was that treasure hidden in a field that when a man found he went and sold all he had so he could buy that field. There was no possible reward on earth anywhere greater than Himself, not the 76 virgins awaiting the Muslims, not Nirvana awaiting the Buddhists, not the streets of gold nor heavenly mansions nor eternal life nor anything else that could be named.
I’m amazed at the theology revealed in some of our Christian songs. Just the titles say it all: “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” and “Heaven Won’t Be Heaven (Without You).”
Or how about these lyrics:
Let's meet by the river over on that beautiful shore,
Let's meet by the river where loved ones dwell who've gone on before;
If you leave me standing here on this earth just wait by the river,
It's such a good place for us to meet over there;
And after I find you let's go see Jesus,
Our deepest longings, even in the afterlife, are for family and friends. But “after I find you,” then “let’s go see Jesus!”
Friends friends friends! He is our exceeding great reward. Anyone who hasn’t realized that yet hasn’t had a sufficient revelation of Jesus. That revelation in itself is a great reward, because it will keep us from pursuing lesser things all our lives and being greatly disappointed in that day when all our earthly sandcastles wash away in the waves of eternity. He is our exceeding great reward. Seek Him diligently and then ask for the reward of that most precious revelation!
I used to ponder that question and fantasize on the possible answer. Would it be some great spiritual gift, such that I could enter a hospital and empty the sickbeds? Maybe it would be a financial blessing whereby I could fully fund the missionaries. Maybe it would be my book on the bestseller list with multitudes being saved because of my testimony. Maybe maybe maybe. Thus did my mind wander.
All the while I was having great experiences in God: walking around the church in the middle of the night pouring out my heart to Him in song, being overcome with weeping so I couldn’t sing anymore, weeping at the revelation of His love for me though the cross, at His passion in seeking me out from the depths of my sin, His stubborn refusal to give me over to the depravity I chose for myself--the many times He refused to give up on me. Other times He let me declare His word at the top of my voice under a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit, which I could feel breaking down the kingdom of darkness all around me. Still other times He let me pour out my heart to Him in song in what I knew were command performances for the angels (“The angels have requested that you sing ‘How Great Thou Art’ one more time, and be sure to hit that real high note at the end!”). And all the while I was wondering, “This is so great, what could my reward possibly be in addition to all this?” Ha!
Then one day it dawned on me…. How could I have been so blind? I didn’t have some grand reward waiting out there that He was going to drop in my lap someday. He was my great reward, and I’d been getting it all along! Like He said to Abram, “I am thy exceeding great reward!” He was that treasure hidden in a field that when a man found he went and sold all he had so he could buy that field. There was no possible reward on earth anywhere greater than Himself, not the 76 virgins awaiting the Muslims, not Nirvana awaiting the Buddhists, not the streets of gold nor heavenly mansions nor eternal life nor anything else that could be named.
I’m amazed at the theology revealed in some of our Christian songs. Just the titles say it all: “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” and “Heaven Won’t Be Heaven (Without You).”
Or how about these lyrics:
Let's meet by the river over on that beautiful shore,
Let's meet by the river where loved ones dwell who've gone on before;
If you leave me standing here on this earth just wait by the river,
It's such a good place for us to meet over there;
And after I find you let's go see Jesus,
Our deepest longings, even in the afterlife, are for family and friends. But “after I find you,” then “let’s go see Jesus!”
Friends friends friends! He is our exceeding great reward. Anyone who hasn’t realized that yet hasn’t had a sufficient revelation of Jesus. That revelation in itself is a great reward, because it will keep us from pursuing lesser things all our lives and being greatly disappointed in that day when all our earthly sandcastles wash away in the waves of eternity. He is our exceeding great reward. Seek Him diligently and then ask for the reward of that most precious revelation!
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