Bob Hamp

Years ago, I learned a valuable lesson.  I was in a groove teaching a weekly class.  On Monday I would begin to ask the Lord what He wanted to talk about the following week.  I would enjoy the process of “hearing”.  As I read and prayed, things I had never considered before would rise to my consciousness.  They seemed meaningful and powerful, and through the week, they would change me.  On Sunday, I would teach, and they seemed to change those who were listening.  The process was invigorating and I was growing familiar with what seemed to be the voice of God in my life.

Then I was interrupted.  Not by someone else, but by that same voice with which I had been growing familiar.  It seems that routine was not His goal.  For One who calls HImself the God who never changes, He was changing things up on me.  I was still doing what I had learned, but this week He did not talk to me about a topic, He talked to me about me.  It was the same “voice” I had been coming to know, but instead of directing me, The Voice seemed to pose a question.

“What would you do if I did not give you a lesson one week?”

I was perplexed.  This had been a pretty good arrangement.  And I was pretty sure that if this was really God, He really wanted me to be teaching people the things He said.  It makes sense right?

Now over the years, I had developed some skills.  I could talk.  I could study words, and context, and history and impact.  I could come up with something on my own.  It seemed good to have these skills, especially before I began to hear the way I had been hearing.  But now we had this plan.  God gave me a lesson.  I taught.  People grew.  It was a great plan.  Why was He asking me this question?  I continued to ask for a lesson for the following week, and He continued talking about me.

“So, Bob, would you do this without me?” He persisted,”If I didn’t give you a lesson, would you teach one that you came out of you instead of Me?”

The question was making me nervous.  Instead of a growing awareness of what I should teach, I was growing in awareness that the correct answer to this question was, “Of course I wouldn’t teach a lesson without You!”

So I responded.  Correctly.

“No Lord, of course I would not teach something that I made up without you”

It worked.  It got Him off my back and I began to sense that rising awareness of what I should teach the next week.  The Lord was back on track.  Back to the deal that kept me comfortable.  I could do what was expected of me, show up with a lesson, and demonstrate to people that I was a competent Bible teacher.

A week went by.  Then another.  Then it happened.  Monday I started asking what I should talk about.  Silence.   Tuesday, silence.  Wednesday, the silence grew louder.  Thursday, the silence was deafening.  By Sunday morning, I was considering my options.  I had a few ideas I could probably develop.  Some intriguing thoughts to impress my class with.  They expected it of me.  God did not seem to understand their expectations.  He certainly did not understand that I had a responsibility Sunday morning.  He had given me nothing, and I had given Him my word.  I would not go on without Him.   So Sunday arrived without a lesson.  So did my class.

They took their seats, we did the weekly announcements, and it was my turn.  I stood up, clutching my Bible, still strongly considering my options.  Then I committed.

“I don’t have anything for you today”, I began. “Not for lack of asking, but in all my prayer and study, I felt like the Lord gave me nothing.  Do any of you feel that the Lord spoke to you this week?”

This began one of our best lessons ever.  Two people shared encounters they had that week,  Others began to discuss.  The discussion was rich and deep, and thought provoking, and more than anything, it seemed soaked with God.  He was here with us.

This day became a landmark for me.  I will not fake it.  I will do my best to prepare, I will read, and pray and study, but I will not provide for a hungry people something that originates from my need to impress people or fulfill unrighteous expectations.  People need God, not me.  He’s a pretty good teacher.

A Plan is something that will work with or without God.  A wineskin is made to contain something (someone).  The only value of a wineskin is that which it contains.  It has no value of it’s own.

Is your life made of wineskins or plans?

James 4:13-14

13 Come now, you who say, ” Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.