Remain As You Were

1 Corinthians 7:24, “Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.”  (NLT)

“We must remain in close communion with God, no matter what our situation was when we were first called to follow Jesus.”  (TPT)

“So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you.  Friends, stay where you were called to be.  God is there.  Hold the high ground with Him at your side.”  (MSG)

And so it seems a little strange. 

Because aren’t we supposed to be different?  Weren’t we called to be set apart?  Why in the world, then, is it telling us that we need to REMAIN where we were when God first called us?

I love the places in scripture that make me uncomfortable and cause me to wrestle with God on the meaning.
Don’t pass by these important wrestling points.
The places that make you squirm a bit.
Don’t shy away from those hard places.
They are there for a reason.
They have been put there as an invitation to dig deeper.

The truth is that we were brought near to God by our conversation.
It was on the day we said YES to Jesus that everything changed.
We must not forget who we were and where we were the day He called us into relationship with Himself!

Paul says it three times in this chapter alone.  Three times he speaks the word REMAIN.
Verse 17 - “Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and REMAIN as you were when God first called you.”
Verse 20 - “Yes, each of you should REMAIN as you were when God called you.”
Verse 24 - “Each of you should REMAIN as you were when God first called you.”

We know that in the early church there were temptations to restlessness affecting the early Christians.

I think what Paul is trying to get them to see - the same he is trying to get us to see is this - STOP where you are!  Remain in it.  Don’t try to change the external circumstances.  God is looking to change the heart.

We aren’t to trouble ourselves with external conditions.  But we are to keep to our Christian professions.

He was saying here - are you a slave?  Don’t let your focus be on trying to get free.
Learn what it means to be a Christ follower in bondage.  This will be what sets you free!
Are you a poor?  Don’t allow your focal point be on trying to get rich.
Learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus in poverty.  This will increase your wealth!
Are you in a season of waiting? Don’t keep focused on getting a quick answer out.
Learn what it means to trust Him IN the waiting room.  This will bring revelation speedily!

If we can focus on being who we are in the place we are and appreciate who and where we are, we can rest knowing it’s all a matter of time… HIS perfected time!

We say, “get on”, but Paul says, “get up!”
Never mind about how far you’re getting - and just get up.
Do the thing He’s asking you to do today!

It’s like me - living in this halted season.  This season of uncertainty.
It’s a new season of trust for myself and for my family.
It’s learning to live each day for itself.
And it’s most difficult for a forward thinker... planner like me!

Matthew 6:34 in the MSG version says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

It is so like us - God’s children - to “try to make the circumstances what we want them to be.”
Paul encourages us here to “Leave the circumstances as they are… and then watch as God takes care of them!
When we get close to Him, hold His hand… everything else will align itself out.

We are so busy with trying to fight our situations and change our circumstances, when God is most interested in finding us serving Him RIGHT IN THE MIDST of whatever we have and wherever we are!

Our chief effort in this life ought to be union with God!

God is calling us to quietly and contentedly ABIDE in the condition in which He has already placed His Divine attention!

It is always our best choice to unpack how to CONQUER circumstances within the limits of our disability than it is merely ESCAPE the troubles which have the potential to make significant and lasting heart change!

My commentary says, “God’s presence is not conditioned by our outward positions in which we may be placed.  He dwells with contrite hearts everywhere, and pays no need to the presence or absence of the brand marks of the slave.”  - WOW

Let's REMAIN where we were when He first called us.

It matters.