“On The Other Side”

Years ago I heard a message where a man spoke about people waiting on the other side of my obedience. This thought goes along with what I have been writing the last couple of weeks. Stepping out of the boat, action required on my part to see God do the inconceivable, and now what my actual obedience means. The message I heard on the idea of the people waiting on the other side of my obedience has stuck with me for about 15 years! I think of this often and recently it seems to be magnified in my thoughts. If I am not obedient to God in this moment the people that would be affected by God in me may miss out. Don't get me wrong I do believe like with Esther and Mordecai if we drop the ball that God will raise up another so that no one misses what He has for them. But like Esther I believe we were born for such a time as this! Why would I want to pass the opportunity along for someone else to step up and fulfill the roll I was really called to? If God is leading me I want to obey so that the big picture God sees for my life and the impact that my life is to have will be completed!

I think of things like timing. My husband just began an educational program that has been years in the making. The timing has been perfect and I have wondered why that is? Then I realized that the open doors God has lined up for us were not ready until now - open doors for things in the future that I cannot see yet that He has prepared for us; divine appointments with others in the program that just happen to be there at the same time as he is. My thoughts can go on and on with this. God is a big picture God and our obedience in this moment will affect our next moment and the people that will be there.

His leading is not just about us in this moment. His leading is about us in every moment. What God has for me to do in this life is to have an impact here. There is great purpose in what God leads His people to do. Think of if Abraham had not gone up to the mountain to sacrifice Isaac as God instructed? Then God would not have revealed Himself as the God who provides. We know that God provides because of Abraham's obedience! Think of if Esther chose not to obey? There is so much strategy revealed in Esther's obedience! Think of the ramifications in our life if we do not obey? What does God want to reveal through our obedience? Who does God want to touch through our obedience? There are people waiting on the other side of my obedience to God!

 

“The Inconceivable”

Sometimes the "smart" thing to do is not what you are supposed to do… What seems smart to us may not be the way God leads. I have been throwing this thought around in my mind for a while. God is great and mighty and time and time again throughout His Word we see how He defied human logic and did things that were inconceivable to man. Time and time again we see how God asked His people to take steps in line with the inconceivable or impossible, asking His people to trust Him the whole way and they did! I know that God never changes yet I wonder why so many of us are not trusting God for the inconceivable anymore?

The God I believe in is the same God that parted the Red Sea for His people to walk across on dry ground! Not only did He give His people a pathway to walk on but He also took care of the enemy in pursuit of them by total annihilation! This is the same God that makes a way for me today! This is the same God that told Noah to build the ark with no logical evidence that what he would build the ark for was anywhere near possible. This is the same God that told Abraham to go up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac giving him full confidence that He would provide all he needed. God has never failed on a promise He has made yet we are not really living like we trust Him.

On one side I am sad that I have dishonored God by not trusting Him to the fullest possible extent and on the other side I am eager to trust Him more. I want to see the same God that led Mary and Joseph and countless others in the Word by dreams and visions. I want to walk in the place where God's power is displayed having full confidence that He is the same today! One conclusion I have come to is that in every situation where God displayed His power His people were required to carry out an action. We want God to show up big in our lives but we are standing still wondering where He is. I think God is waiting on us and we have been waiting on Him? What actions are we pursuing in response to Gods direction in our lives? Abraham had to go to the mountain with Isaac, Noah had to build the ark, the children of Israel had to get to the place where they needed to cross the Red Sea, and the list goes on. Following after God requires a little faith and a whole lot of obedience which is visible by our actions. I am excited to see God show up in every area of my life as I follow after Him. Today, I want to see God do the inconceivable in and through my life as the God who never changes!

“Safety In The Boat?”

I have been thinking a lot about the risk involved in getting out of the boat and going for something in faith with God. Everything in me says that I will be better off following after God than I would ever be staying where I am at! Where I am, in the safety of the boat, will never achieve what I am called to or what I desire or even the impact that God wants my life to have. I have thought: "Lord, what about when the wind and waves come?" My thought being, that in the safety of the boat I will be protected… Then I thought about Peter, when he took the risk to get out of the boat. Peter only began to sink when he lost his focus on Jesus. The most interesting part of Peter's experience to me is that the wind and the waves were affecting both those in the boat and Peter. Who was more safe; those in the boat or Peter? Those in the boat most likely were not too comfortable with being tossed about, maybe not sure how bad the storm would get before it passed. Peter seems unbothered by the storm when his focus was on Jesus and even when he saw the wind and waves and was shaken, beginning to sink, he was able to cry out and Jesus helped him. Really the safest place appears to be out of the boat with Jesus!

Why do we hesitate to trust Him and get out of the boat when He calls? Why do we think that staying in the boat will be safe? The safety of the boat is an illusion! The safest, strongest place is out on the water with Jesus! I am called to a life of faith and that has corresponding actions. How long do I talk about doing something great for God? I look back at the truth in the Bible and I see how time and time again God did things through His people that defied human logic and turned things around with amazing reversal. Why do we not trust Him to show up like that in our daily lives? Is not God the same yesterday, today and forever? He is the God that parted the Red Sea for His people to cross over. He is the one that had Noah do things that made no sense to any human being at the time, yet it was the "water walk" that Noah was called to. God is the God of miracles and I do believe that to be true and I long for my life to line up with that truth… God has shown Himself trustworthy time and time again, not only in the Bible but in my life. I, for one, am getting out of the boat to walk with my almighty, trustworthy, faithful Lord and I can hardly wait to see what He does next!