RL101: Find a Different God

I invite you to read a story that beautifully illustrates the profound grace and guidance of God. It’s about a young man who faced a critical decision and learned the true meaning of trust and surrender in his relationship with God. As you read, reflect on how God’s leading often transcends our understanding and how prioritizing our relationship with Him can bring unexpected blessings. This story is a testament to the power of trusting God’s plan and valuing His presence in our lives. Read and be blessed!- Cyberdasm

I was nineteen years old and facing the biggest crisis of my life. I was about to be expelled from the University of Bucharest because I would not attend classes on Sabbath. My thoughts raced. During those years in Communist Romania, people without education lived difficult lives. Even getting into the university in the first place had been nearly impossible. When I applied, 976 students were competing for ten seats. I scored fourth in the testing and was very happy because now I could have a good life—a comfortable, decent life.

Then pressure began building as I missed Saturday classes week after week. I desperately prayed that God would help me. But I received no answer.

One day, the president of the university gave me an ultimatum.

"Goia, if you go to church, you have no future in this country. We will expel you from school and that will be the end of your education. This coming Saturday is your last chance. If you come to school, you are in. If you don't come, you are out. Your choice."

Sabbath was getting closer, and my internal conflict grew worse. My stomach tensed up so much that I couldn't eat. I'd lay awake at night wondering why God didn't answer my prayers. Then I'd pray even more urgently. The choice felt unbearable.

In despair, I called my father and poured everything out to him. "Dad, I don't know what else to do. I've tried to talk to them. I've prayed for hours. I've fasted. I've claimed His promises. I even had faith. Shouldn't I get an answer if I have faith? If I don't go to school this coming Sabbath, I will be expelled and lose everything. Tell me what more I need to do so that He will answer my prayer."

Dad paused. "Son," he finally answered, "you need to find a different god."

My mind went blank. "What do you mean?"

"You think God is there to grant your wishes, but He is the master, and you are His servant. You must focus on Him instead of focusing on school."

I still didn't understand. "How do you want me to pray?" I asked. "You want God to save your schooling and your future. But you are not the center of the universe—Jesus is. When you pray, say, 'Lord, I would like you to save my education; nevertheless, please do what honors You. If my presence in this school serves You, let me be there and be a light for You. If not, take me from there and put me wherever honors and serves You.' When you give up self and put God in the center, when you fully surrender everything, when you are willing to sacrifice everything, including school, that is the prayer that He answers."

"Switch your prayer, son. Then you will experience power. Whatever you try to save, you will lose. But whatever you are willing to lose, surrender, and give to Him, that's what you save. That is what He can protect, preserve, use, and bless.

"You may think that school is what you need—which is why you pray about it. But your real need is to know God—to know His will. You need a relationship with Him. You need to know Him and trust in Him more than you need school. Son, you cannot have it all—God and school, or whatever else. God may allow you to stay in school or not, but that should not be your concern. You need to choose who comes first. You may say, 'God comes first.' But then you struggle in prayer to surrender school, which makes it clear that school comes first. Whatever you cannot surrender, whatever comes first—that's what you worship. You cannot worship God and other things at the same time. You cannot compromise. You need to choose. You cannot have a divided heart. Either all for God or nothing."

Why Don't We See Power?

Now let me pause my story and ask you a question.

Why don't we see power in our lives or the church today? We've been Christians for years, for decades sometimes, and we still lack power. We're busy with projects, programs, and church activities, which are good and necessary. But we know that there is something vital missing in our lives and the church. We desire more.

We talk so much about Jesus, His love, His power, and what He has done in the past—but there is not much that happens in our lives, our families, and our churches. We talk about the book of Acts: the Pentecost, the miracles, the conversions, the incredible growth, and all that happened then. We desire it today. But how can it happen all over again? We're facing challenging times, and we don't know what to do.

Around the world, the prophecies we have learned since we were children are fulfilling before our eyes. Politically, economically, religiously, and in all other ways, things are happening in preparation for Jesus' coming—not in the far future, but extremely soon.

We need God now more than ever before. We need to finish the work. We need to get ready for the greatest crisis in history. We need to be ready for His second coming. And for that, we need His presence and power. But how do we receive power?

Jesus told the disciples to pray until they receive the Holy Spirit. And He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, they shall receive power (Acts 1:8). Then they were to go and preach the good news.

Before sending them out, Jesus first asked them to stay, wait, and pray. He didn't ask them to pray just once, twice, or for a week, or forty days. The Great Commission does not begin with going to the whole world and telling the good news. First, we must wait and pray. Pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, pray until... He was clear. Pray UNTIL you receive the Holy Spirit. Then you shall receive power.

When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the disciples began to truly understand Jesus' sacrifice, to grasp the prophecies and the great controversy. The coming of the Spirit transformed them and the whole known world through them. They forgot themselves and focused entirely on God and His mission. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was symbolized as the early rain.

Today, we also are to pray until we receive the Holy Spirit, which will be the latter rain. Zechariah 10:1 says, "Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain."

Now is the time of the latter rain. We need to pray for it.

As individuals and as a church, how can we grow spiritually if we don't have spiritual power? Spiritual power only comes when the Holy Spirit comes. And the Holy Spirit comes when we pray.

We cannot fight spiritual battles in human power. For spiritual war, we need spiritual power. Human wisdom, plans, and strategies may be good, but they will never bear real success without the power of the Holy Spirit. We can plant the seeds, water, till, and weed, but only God gives the growth. This work is not done in human strength "but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).

Jesus told the disciples clearly that it was better if He went because He would then send them the Comforter (John 16:7). And He told them that the Holy Spirit would lead them and help them in all things and into all truth (John 16:13). Everything is possible through His Spirit; nothing is possible in our own power. In His Spirit are concentrated all heavenly resources.

The disciples prayed together in one accord. They prayed for the promised Comforter. And when they prayed, they received the Holy Spirit. And when they received the Holy Spirit, they received power. And then everything else happened in ways that they could have never done or imagined. A small group of persecuted people with no money, media, or influence turned the world upside down.

Are we ready to pray until we receive the power of the Holy Spirit today?

My father used to say, "I don't pray for what I think I need because I'm not sure I know what is best to ask for. I pray for what God wants me to pray for His will, plan, and honor. And I pray until I am filled with His presence! I pray until the Holy Spirit takes control over me, my mind, words, and my actions. Then God can change me, grow me, inspire me, lead me and use me. Only God's presence in me can bring real results. I no longer focus on self but rather on Him.”

God can never work in us or use us until we make His presence and plans our priority. We need to seek His presence and be filled with His Spirit.

Christ wants to live in us through the Holy Spirit. He wants to fill us with His Spirit—to pour His power into us.

Wow. That's a big concept. How can this happen in our lives? In our churches?

The Rest of the Story

Back to my story about school.

Oh, how I struggled! Of course, I wanted to obey God—but what I really wanted was for Him to fix it so I didn't have to choose. I wanted to say I surrendered my school, yet I didn't want to give up my entire future career.

But my dad was right—I needed to change my prayer. I was even more convicted when I read my devotional book: "When we pray, we need to trust God with the outcome; we need to allow Him to work as He sees best."

God doesn't work with half-committed people.

Still, it felt like pulling teeth to get the words out.

"Lord, You already know how I hate to say these words. You know that I don't want to lose my education and ruin my future. But if you really think that I should not be in school, I give You my consent to do what You want. You know my heart, Lord, I am sorry."

Then my heart and prayer began to change. "Do what would honor and serve You. Help me make You a priority, seek Your will more than my will, and seek a relationship with You above all other things." On and on, my words poured out.

The moment I was willing to give up my career and commit everything to God, forgetting myself, the crushing weight of despair dropped away. I felt a peace like I'd never experienced before in my life. In fact, I felt that God was right there next to me. I was afraid even to open my eyes or keep talking. What could I have said in His presence? I decided to trust in Him. At that moment, a Romanian song came to my mind, "The one that trusts in the Lord has no worries."

On Thursday, I went to school, determined to keep Sabbath at any cost and no longer concerned with the outcome. Mrs. Radu, the school secretary, greeted me and began asking questions. During our long conversation, she said, "Pavel, you are a good student. It is a pity to lose your education. Come to school, and you can pray in your mind."

"I will not compromise, Mrs. Radu. God comes first, second, and in every place in my life. If God wants to save my education, He can do it, and He will do it. But if He doesn't intervene, why would I even want to be in school?"

"You are a fanatic! Goia, there is no God. Have you seen Him?”

"Yes, last night in prayer."

She shook her head in disbelief. “You really have lost your mind," she said. "Wake up! No god can save you from the government." “Mrs. Radu, my God is bigger than any government. And He is my priority, not school."

"Well," she said, turning away, "I want to see what god can save you from a communist government."

I prayed again that night, but I was no longer pleading for my education or future. Instead, I asked God to do whatever was necessary for Mrs. Radu and the school to know Him.

"Lord, please help them know that there is a real God who loves them—a God who is coming soon and who wants to save them."

Friday was supposed to be my last day of classes before being expelled. I didn't know what to expect as I approached the school for the final time. The first person I saw was Mrs. Radu. As soon as she saw me, she came running. She was so pale and shaken that I thought she was sick.

"Pavel, do you know anyone in the government?"

"No," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you know anyone in the Central Committee?" "No."

"Do you know Ceausescu?"

"Well, everyone knows the president of the country. I see him on TV."

"No, no, no. Are you relatives or close friends?"

"Me and the president? Ha, ha!" I was smiling. I thought she was kidding.

"Are you positive you are being honest with me?" she asked again. Now I was beginning to feel puzzled. “Yes, Mrs. Radu, I am being totally honest. All I know about the government is that there are thousands of roses in front of the government palace. Sometimes I stop by and take a free rose from there for my wife, Daniela. That's all the government I know."

She just stared at me in disbelief, shaking her head a little. "Then there is a God!" she said, almost to herself. "Pavel, for twenty-one years, I have worked at this university. Never have I seen the government take an action like this! This morning, the president spoke on TV. To help the ailing economy by conserving energy, he canceled all Saturday classes for the entire country, effective today. If this law had come on Monday rather than today, you would have been expelled from school for the rest of your life. No one could have saved you." Then her voice lowered. "There must be a God after all," she almost whispered. "Your God is real, and He loves you!"

I answered, "Mrs. Radu, yes, my God is real, and He loves me. He gave His Son for you and for me. But when I prayed just for me, He did not answer. When I gave up self and prayed for whatever best served Him and that more people, like you, may know Him, then He worked in a way that I could have never imagined.”

Why Don't We Have Power When We Pray Today?

As my father said long ago, we are praying the wrong prayers. We forget to fix our eyes on God and instead fix our eyes on self, other people, problems, needs, challenges, and all types of things. We're praying more for answers, blessings, help, or even church growth and less for God's presence and will. God longs to give us Himself most of all. We often have made the things God intended as blessings into idols and have transformed them into curses. We seek His help instead of His presence, which we really need most. We need to be filled with Him.

We often worship the blessings of God instead of the God of the blessings.

How can any blessing help us if we miss God's presence? If we miss a deep relationship with Him? A total dependence on Him?

Jesus said to ask, seek, knock—for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our Father in heaven is looking for people who thirst for Him, who desire Him more than anything else. People who forget self and make Him the center. People who seek His presence and His leading. He promised to give His Holy Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13).

He will help us seek Him, desire Him, know Him, and love Him above all else.

Summary

Jesus told the disciples to pray until they received the Holy Spirit. Only when the Holy Spirit came upon them did they receive power. Only after that were they to go and preach the good news.

Think what power will flow in our lives, what power will flow in our church, when God becomes the center of our prayers—when we pray until the Holy Spirit fills us, leads us, controls us, and speaks through us all for the glory of our Father!