About a year ago, my wife and I were in Florida to visit relatives and for some needed down time. We try to get away from our local area every 3-4 months for a couple days to help us gain perspective- away from the incessant bussle of daily life. Looking out onto the warm Atlantic, the waves pounding against the beach, pelicans gliding effortlessly overhead like some kind of prehistoric small scale cargo plane- I was telling God how I didn't want to do what I knew He was asking me to do.
I said "Lord I can't do it! I'm not qualified, I'm too weak, It doesn't make sense, it's not practical, it can't be you telling me to do it..." When I distinctly heard the voice of my Lord in my heart say- "Shut up and stop wining. Are you going to obey me or not?" Nearly collapsing at the magnitude of His words, I immediately realized it wasn't about me. It's never about me- or you either. It's about who is in charge. It's about me and you obeying Him even if we don't think it makes sense. While it's obvious that we shouldn't just run out and do whatever we happen to think about in a moment and then say that God made me do it...There are times in our lives, when the Lord has been preparing us, planting His desires in us, bringing along His kind confirmations, and we just need to trust Him. To place our hope fully on the joy that will be revealed- knowing that we could even be wrong- but knowing that even if we are- He Himself is the One who upholds us.
A quick walk down the Hall of Faith in the book of Hebrews will show us that the ones who were commended for their faith were just normal people like us, who couldn't really know how it would all turn out if they obeyed. But they trusted in God- they trusted that no matter what He would work it out. They trusted in His good intentions for them, not in their ability to hear perfectly.
So that's what we're doing. We are trusting in God's good intentions for us. Knowing that He is the One who said He would be with us. Knowing that He is the One who said He'd never leave. Knowing that even if we mess up, it won't be wasted, and He will use it for our good. That's the walk of faith we're called to. So I decided to shut up and stop wining and obey- and already- I'm glad I did.
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