Trusting God when God tells you to do something you don’t want to do. What if God asks you to do something that makes absolutely no sense in your mind? Has it ever happened to you?
It’s happened to me more times than I can count! Yep, God often tells us to do things that are totally odd and a little cray-cray… to us anyway.
For instance:
He’s told me to give someone a hundred dollars…when I wanted to keep that loot for myself.
He’s told me to go places I was scared (or didn’t want) to go.
He’s told me to bless people with gifts …Girl, folks I didn’t even like.
He’s made me walk over to complete strangers and say things that seem crazy to me.
He’s told me to say things to my husband about ministry that was totally out of my lane.
He’s made me apologize when I was not wrong. *all the married people say hallelujah*
He’s made me do ministries I didn’t want to do nor knew anything about.
He’s made me create a YouTube channel. Ugh! (Had to get rid of it because of a creepy man.)
I could go on and on and on…
Do you see the theme in my comments?
What words are bolded above? It’s the “ME” and the “I” words. Pronouns, right? Trusting God has very little to do with how we feel or what we want. It’s about obedience and the kind of surrender that builds Christian maturity.
Anyway and the “F-Bomb”
In the final analysis, I discovered our biggest barrier to obedience to God is US…ourselves! I’ll talk more about that later, my beautiful Christian sister.
But, first I’ll drop the “F” bomb!
To obey, you gotta have the”F” Word – “FAITH.” God calls us to do hard things for lots of reasons, we’ve gotta learn to trust Him.
(Not the “f” bomb you were expecting huh?)
Whenever we face difficult tasks, it’s important to remember that we have an active relationship with our kind, loving Creator.
God knows what’s best for us and won’t put us through anything that doesn’t serve us in some way. Read that again.
The strength to carry out His will can be found in the understanding that He is always with us; it may not feel like it at times but His love remains steadfast throughout our trials and tribulations. Remembering this connection can provide the hope and courage to trust Him during even the toughest of times.
Our purpose on earth is not self-satisfaction...it never was.
But, the end result in this Christian walk is always the same: to bring glory to Him and to multiply His kingdom on earth.
Then, what happens is people will see God do impossible things through us.
Guess what happens next. That brings glory to the Lord, it builds – or even cultivates – faith too! Win-Win!
Note: the “f” bomb, I was sarcastically referencing was the word “faith.” I didn’t want to leave that to chance for those who may not have understood my quirky humor.”
Christian Woman, your obedience is like a giant spotlight pointing toward heaven that says to the world:
“Hey, goofballs…GOD IS REAL AND HE IS STILL
INVOLVED IN THE LIVES OF MEN! Don’t believe me…LOOK AT HER!!!!”
This is why we must obey God no matter what – because of that spotlight. They are watching us. They want to know if God’s way of doing things works or not.
We can’t treat God’s direction as “regular”, everyday stuff.
God is not a person. He exists in three persons, but He is not “people” like we are. He is G-O-D!!!! He is supreme.
Seasoned Christians often forget this because of the intimacy He allows.
Christian Sister, I have the perfect example! See, I am a pastor’s wife of a certain age. I go to a pretty big church. Every now and again someone young will call me by my first name and honestly it bugs me a little. They have no right to address me in such a familiar way because I am so much older than they are. I am entitled to some respect because of my age.
Sometimes, I think we do the same with God and it makes trusting God harder for us.
We get too familiar because He’s so present in our lives. Yet, never forget, the fellowship and the friendship can never negate the fact HE IS GOD.
He is sovereign.
He is Lord.
He is in charge. We are not. Clear, right?
Yep, He is the God of the universe…the Creator of all things. We have no right to question or challenge Him ever. Again, our job is to just obey.
Puh-lease. You can’t understand such a God, don’t even try!
*Just obey*
Don’t be a proud, arrogant Christian. Trusting God requires humility.
Disobedience carries a weight of arrogance, don’t you think? When we don’t obey, it’s like we are saying we know better than He does.
*That’s a joke*
We cannot even begin to understand Him or how He is working. That’s why we need to trust Him and just submit! Relent. Give in.
AGAIN: HE. IS. GOD!
Never waste your time trying to figure Him out.
His ways are too advanced. Just obey.
(Yeah, I’m being redundant on purpose…and I’m also talking to myself at the same time!)
You know the scripture I’m going to reference, right?
Isaiah 55:8-9 New International Version (NIV)
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
I love the way Eugene Peterson conveys it:
Isaiah 55:8-11 The Message (MSG)
8-11 “I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.”
Again, why even try to understand God’s movements, right?
It’s so fruitless and stupid. But, we do it time and time again. I know I often try to figure Him out myself.
Duh…what dopes we are, Girl? We can’t explain how a brown cow eats green grass, yet produces white milk and we try to figure out God. *hehe*
God is so patient with us; why do we test Him?
Sometimes, in His grace, the Lord reveals glimpses into His plan for us. I like it when that happens because things begin to make some sort of sense to me. It makes it easy to obey.
Other times, not so much. Those are the most difficult times – those times when He leaves me completely in the dark.
But in the end…my job is not to try to figure Him out – as I’ve stated earlier.
Again, it’s to obey – to do exactly what He said WHEN HE SAYS TO DO IT!
I am being honest.
If you are honest too, you can relate to what I’m saying.
If you want to pretend you’re perfect, find another blog …after you are finished walking on water. You ain’t perfect, Girl! Still, I love you anyway. <3
Really. Obedience is a common struggle for most Christians. We find ways to justify it, but it’s a struggle all the same.
Beware of weak faith hiding behind
“Christian-ese” talk.
Back in the day, I used to say I was waiting for confirmation from the Lord before acting on what He told me to do. Or sometimes, I’d say “I’m praying about” this or that. The truth of the matter, I was usually just scared to act. Trusting God can be hard and we try to rationalize it all, don’t we?
Get outta here with that weak faith, Christian woman!
Have you ever done that too – “sit” on what God tells you to do? Biding your time? I surely have.
I am now much better at acting in faith than I used to be but make no mistake about it, I still have a long way to go. It’s ok because we are all a work in progress.
Undoubtedly, I’ve been too frightened to act on what God has told me to do – plenty of times in fact. I probably will again. I’m a human.
So, I’ve been known to justify my fear with more “Christian” talk – like “I’m not sure this is the season to do that” or “once I have confirmation, I’ll move forward” or some other garbage.
Just like Gideon (Judges 6:36-40), I would wait for God to show me He was, in fact, telling me to do whatever it was I was afraid to do.
Want to hear something hilarious?
I knew that the whole “fleece” thing of having God “prove” Himself was just a sign of fear and weak faith. Yet, I did it anyway. I mean I did it OFTEN!
Such a sad testament. Why should He need to accommodate me? Or you, for that matter?
Don’t push God like
some dumb kid!
Hey, as I write this, I have a 12-year-old son. Girl…a pre-adolescent in my house! Isn’t he cute up above?
He is still cute now, but he’s surely growing up.
When I tell you, he’s every bit a pre-teen, he so is! This fella is beginning to question, inquire, and think on his own. It’s driving me absolutely wild!
Research actually asserts this is a good thing though.
They say young people who are developing properly gain a sense of independence that prompts them to question authority and test boundaries. When they challenge authority, it’s actually a sign of growth and development (HOWEVER, they have to be respectful though…at least in my house they do.)
The absolute opposite is true for us in the Kingdom of God.
While this may be true in youth development, our measure of maturity is very different from the Lord. We demonstrate spiritual maturity when we do NOT test God’s boundaries or question His authority.
Anyway, that’s another blog post.
All this to say, trusting God is the path to peace. It’s to easy and we jump through a bunch of hoops trying to avoid it at times, but it’s the key to pleasing Him.
Obeying Him brings peace; while disobeying him brings the opposite.
Praying and listening for answers from God can help in trusting Him when He’s asking us to do something hard. God will speak to you if you are open and willing to listen. He often speaks through nature, sermons or messages from others, holy music, or even bodily sensations like a whisper in your ear. Prayer and quiet time help us attune ourselves to His voice and learn to trust the answers revealed.
