Staying by the Stuff

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, June 23rd. Who makes the most valuable contribution to a healthy church? If you thought only of your pastor, today's podcast broadens the scope to remind you of the crucial role of those who work for the Lord behind the scenes. If you'll turn to the 30th chapter of 1 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 in his life.

And as a result of that, he had a little place called Ziklag. And while he was gone, the enemy came in and burned them out, burned everything, wiped them out, took all of his, both of his wives, his children, all 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'd had 600 men with him. And if you'll 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'd 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 loved was gone. And best they knew, they were probably destroyed. But they were all gone.

So they had gone 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 the Amalekites. They didn't know how far they were gone and how long it would take. So David took only two-thirds of his army, one-third he left behind. He took two-thirds of them with him.

And you 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. And 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 copping 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 this fall in the booty of the Amalekites. That wasn't their attitude at all. 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 ask 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 spoil alike. And I want to show you some principles here that I think you'll see why David was fair in 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, tearing, as he says, tearing by the stuff, it is absolutely essential for somebody to stay with the stuff in every single enterprise in life. You think about the people in any 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 salesmen 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 her 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 wasn't staying back in the office, shuffling papers, cleaning up the mess they make, if somebody weren't doing that, the business couldn't 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, well, they can do without me, not really. It is absolutely essential that somebody's stable 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 stable the stuff, it can be more demanding to stable 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 sheer 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 is 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 really, boy, let's get in and 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, well, I'm willing to go to Missionville, but I sure don'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 and out front, you will be anywhere?

David said, they will share equally. Those who tarry by the stuff and those who go to battle will share and share alike. Because unless somebody stayed by the stuff, unless somebody does the mundane things, unless 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 than it does somebody who's always up in front and getting all the praise and all 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 us, friend. Don't overlook the guy who's out there giving his best and nobody even, you know when you miss folks like that? When they quit. That's when you're missing. 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 a reason beyond their control.

Sometimes the people who have the responsibilities of staying by the stuff may have that responsibility for a 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 and all 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 fellow who does his best where he is, will 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 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, a fellow told me a lesson. I used to work in the textile mills and one day I was sort of good with this guy about why he was still there. I said, man, you ought to get stuff 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 he walked off.

Well, it sort of bugged me a little bit. And so the next day I apologized to him. I said, look, I'd like 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 other 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 later on he may do something else, but he may work there. I can remember meeting folks who'd worked there 40 years in the same department. And it was just, 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 on everybody around me saying, well, you know, man, why do you want to work here? And somehow after a while I looked back over the time and realized they seem to be so content.

And I was the guy who was 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 responsibilities 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 equally 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 for their responsibility.

And I'm sure of this. There are 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 would be willing to 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. It 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. And 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 abiding by that simple little quote. One of these days the Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the 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 it 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 did 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 did 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 fact.

Am I really doing my best where God has placed me? Thank you for listening to Staying by the Stuff. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.