The Three Living States of Man – Part III
The Rest State
Psalms 1:1 – "Blessed is the man that walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in
the seat of the scornful."
To close this series we will discuss probably the most
desired state by all of us: the rest state. Many of us feel that we spend too
much time in the action or decision state and not enough time in the rest
state. This could be. Yet, it could also be that we are spending our rest time
in the wrong places. Let’s look into this.
Our focus is the latter part of the text which tells us
blessed is the man that does not "sitteth" in the seat of the
scornful. Now during this "sitteth" we are actually recharging. This
is when we are most receptive to advice and/or guidance. Charles Standley
stated this: "We should never make a decision when we are Hungry, Angry,
Lonely or Tired (HALT)." Think about this, and keep in mind how the enemy
tries to wear us down to make a decision. When we are on our last leg and all
hell has busted loose, one more person has to come to make it even worse. I’ve
really got to share.
When my mother was facing her last days on earth and things
were looking their absolute worst, a man came by to visit me. I had been
basically living in the hospital for a week and a half, so I was truly drained.
During the man’s visit he told me, "sometimes we just have to give
up" and he even had a band of "Amen-ers" agreeing with him. If
anything was the back breaker this was it, because this man was supposed to be
a man of faith. I thought he would only
bring an encouraging word, not a discouraging one. When I needed to
"rest" in God’s promises, I got exactly the opposite. I tell you the truth, I cried more after he
left than when my mother passed away and I was right by her side when that
happened.
This is why it’s so important that we not only desire rest
but know where to rest. Going back to our scripture it tells us not to
"sitteth" (constantly sit or rest) in the seat of the scornful. The
word "seat" in this scripture comes from the Hebrew word
"moshav" meaning dwelling place or a collective sitting. Let’s focus
in on this collective sitting. Two modern terms for this are beauty shops and
barber shops. (Oooohhhhh Holy Ghost, don’t tell on some folk!)
Yes, the beauty shops and barber shops are often bad
places of rest. Why? Because most of the time people go in with loose lips and
loose spirits and come out with less deliverance than they went in with.
(Uh-oh, He’s telling on somebody!) People go in with all their issues, with all
their luggage, with all their problems, with all their concerns, just to unload
them on ungodly barbers or beauticians. Then what do those ungodly barbers or
beauticians do after you leave? They begin to prophesy things over your life,
and they are not those things you’ve been praying to come to pass.
Then they get with the other folk they work with and say,
"yeah . . . I knew their marriage wouldn’t make it. I told you their
husband/wife was going to leave them. All they do is come in here and complain
about their marriage." And to make matters worse, as you leave, they may
even point you out to their co-workers so that they know who you are the next
time they gossip about you. Come on now! I’m only telling you what I’ve
witnessed, and I only go to the barbershop. And if you don’t think men gossip
then I’m here to tell you — YOU’RE THINKING WRONG!
We are not saying that ALL beauticians and barbers are
ungodly, but you need to be very specific about (1) who lays hands on you to do
your hair and (2) who you tell your business to. This is because the wrong
people can cause you to lose much rest! Do I need to say that again?! The wrong
people will cause you to lose much rest!
Let us reiterate this clearly. Not ALL beauticians/barbers
are ungodly, but you need to know who you are dealing with. (I had no intention
for this message to go this way, but while the Holy Ghost has me here I’m going
to stay here until He tells me to leave.) Now I know that many of you just love
your beautician/barber because they do a great job. They make you look so good
when you get out of the chair; you just can’t leave them. And we are truly not
telling you to go to the worse barber/beautician in town and call it
"suffering for Christ." What we are saying is that Christians need to
be specific about whom we sow seeds into. We should not be supporting the
ungodly nor their habits. We really should be supporting those in the body.
Even if they are working for others who are not Godly, your seeds could be what
helps them start their own business and get out from under that.
No Christian should find comfort in the "collective
sitting" of the scornful. As a matter of fact, the meaning of scornful is
to treat as unworthy or to be seen as inferior. Now why would you give someone
your money who sees you as inferior or believes that you shouldn’t be blessed
the way you should be. I don’t mean to shock you but everyone you give your
business to does not want you blessed.
Some folk want you just a little lower than they
are–probably much lower then they are. Don’t believe that just because you can
now tip them $10 instead of $5 they are happy that you got promoted and got
that new car. Honey, some people would rather see you pull up in a
"hooptie" and pay them with rolled up pennies. Then they would really
have something to talk about. So be careful where you "sitteth." Even
though it might be inconvenient to change where you "sitteth," it
probably is for the greater good.
