Too Much

1 Kings 12:28
“Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”

Jeroboam made the mistake of being fearful of losing his position. Instead of trusting God to help him keep his kingdom, he looked at the distance to Jerusalem and thought the people would eventually desire to bring Rehoboam back as their king. This fear caused him to make two golden calves for the people to serve. He set one in Bethel and the other in Dan. He told the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.” Hold on; it wasn’t too much before he became king. Why is it too much now for the people to go to Jerusalem when it wasn’t too much in the past? The answer to this question is that he became self-focused, and a self-focused, pleasure-seeking individual will always think it is too much to serve the LORD.

We live in times when people often think that serving God by faith is too much or too extreme. What they often don’t tell you is that what many complain about being too much today wasn’t too much in the past. It wasn’t too much to be a soul winner in the past. It wasn’t too much for God’s people to dress properly and decently. It wasn’t too much for God’s people to work on bus routes and bring people to church. It wasn’t too much to go to church for every service. It wasn’t too much to get involved in a ministry of the church. Sadly, many have fallen for the “too much” mentality and have watered down their walk with the LORD. Let me give you some advice about this “too much” mentality.

First, a pleasure-seeking, self-focused believer will always think God’s way is too much. When you get your eyes off God and the harvest He has sent you to reap, you will always think the ways of the LORD are too much. It is never too much when you realize there is a real Hell where people who have never accepted Christ as Saviour will spend for an eternity. If everything has to be fun or a benefit to you, you will find that what God wants you to do will seem to be too much.

Second, stop looking for easier ways. The search for an easier way always produces false gods with empty promises. Instead of seeking for an easier way, you should be seeking for the right way. The right way isn’t always going to be easy. The right way will at times be hard, but that shouldn’t keep you from walking in the old paths. Satan always offers an easier way, but that doesn’t make it the right way because it is easy.

Third, stop trying to get out and stay in. You will always find an excuse to get out when you think what God asks is too much. Stop looking for ways to get out of your ministry and stay faithful to it. Stop looking for ways to substitute your prayer time and just keep praying. Stop looking for reasons to stop going soul winning and be faithful to go after the souls of men. Instead of trying to get out of church, you need to find reasons to stay in.

Fourth, the rewards of doing right make the sacrifice of doing right seem small. It will never seem like too much when you begin reaping the rewards of doing right. My friend, the rewards of doing right will be experienced if you just stay faithful to what you are supposed to do. Don’t fall for Satan’s trap that the LORD is asking for too much. Enjoy the journey of serving the LORD, and you’ll be glad you never looked for an easier way.

Author: Allen Domelle