I love having conversations with people who think that they know God so well that they make comments like “I know God would never ask me to do something like that.” Now don’t get me wrong, I like meeting people who know God and know Him well. I like to think that I know Him well too, but I am very careful when it comes to thinking I know what He would and wouldn’t ask me to do.
My Oldest grandson, Twitch, is a real prayer warrior. His mom posted on Facebook that she woke up to him praying for her to have a little brother so they could name him Bumblebee Optimus Prime. She says this is impossible and that God would not ask her to have another baby, and they have taken steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen. So I like to laugh and remind them of the story of Sarah and Abraham. I also like to think about how Jesus said that if we ask anything, believing, that it would be granted. I can’t wait to see little Bumblebee OP.
Too often Christians like to sanitize their lives from things that are so far fetched and not give God the credit for being a God of miracles. We believe that it is the calling of others to go to Africa, to feed the hungry, or house the homeless. We believe that God has blessed us with good jobs, good homes, and good families, and that doing those things mentioned before would put all that in jeopardy. What we forget is that God is the one who provided us with all those things and He can just as easily take them, just ask Job.
I think that Christians miss more blessings because we think that God would never ask us to do what we don’t approve of than we will even know. I believe when it comes right down to it, that we will find out just how little we have been blessed when we don’t do the extraordinary.
The Apostle Paul was a rich man, before he became a Christian, then had to depend on the gifts of others. Abraham was one of the richest men in the world and was told to leave it all behind to go to an unknown place. Job was a perfect and upright man until God decided to bless him; which meant losing it all before getting the double portion.
One of my favorite things is to ask believer if they thought that God would ever ask them to marry a prostitute and have children with her, even if you knew that she would continue to be a prostitute after you are married. Overwhelmingly the answer is “no”. Them I tell them to read the book of Hosea and see that God just might do exactly that.
Ramon noodles come prepackaged, ready to add water. You know what you will get. A can of tomato soup is opened and heated and eaten as is. If you buy a shirt, you try it on and know what it looks like and how it fits. God is none of these.
Becoming a Christian is the greatest thing a person can do with their life. To be forgiven of all sins, called a child of God, and receive eternal life is an incredible gift that can be accepted by all who believe. But what we fail to remember is that after we become children of God, we should submit to His authority. We should trust our Father and we should never think that we know better than He does.
I want to be blessed. I want to experience what God intends for my life, even if it means getting a bit uncomfortable. So far I have not been asked to go to Africa or marry a prostitute. But I have been asked to serve and love a church full of people who need Jesus and need to know Him better. What a privilege and what a challenge. I once said that I would never move from where I was because God was using me there. Now I am here and I am more blessed than ever before.
What is God ask you to do?
