I am participating in an Online Bible Study through Proverbs 31 Ministries...studying Lysa TerKeurst's book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God. (GREAT BOOK!)
One of the things we are looking at this week is Radical Obedience. You know what I mean. It is fairly easy to obey when God calls you to do "normal" things.. Like that prompting to not sleep in, but to get up and go to church... that sudden need to call a friend and encourage her... even something like taking a meal to someone. Those aren't so outside the box.. they don't stretch your faith.. so they are, for the most part, easy to say Yes to. But then there are those other callings...the ones where you want to look at God and say "Surely you are NOT talking to me!?" Or as we are saying this week in our study "Say What!? God!"
I have had plenty of "Say What" Moments in my life. Some have been huge... like when God called my husband to leave his job... his secure paycheck every month with benefits job... and go... well that was the big catch.. God told him to resign, but didn't say what was coming next. And do you know the man obeyed! And when I wanted to explain to him why this was not a good idea, the Lord sent another "Say What" moment.. He told me to Be Quiet... to Submit to my husband's authority and to trust Him. Can you imagine!?
The amazing thing is I did just that. Although I definitely unloaded my feelings to the Lord about it! And here is the wild thing... God did have it under control. Within 2 days my husband had been offered another job.. out of the blue. Now this would seem a fairy tale ending if I could say it is the perfect job with twice the pay. But again.. God had a "Say What" moment for us. He sent a job, but the pay was less. "Say WHAT!?" And on top to that the man, again, obeyed the Lord and took the job. Once again, God had me be quiet.
And while it has not been easy at times financially, it has been one of the best decisions ever made for our family.. our marriage.. and for my husband.
Other "Say What" moments are not so huge, but can still be a stretch. Many years ago I was in the grocery store. I was an at-home mom with 2 small children. My husband was self-employed. And money was tighter than tight. (That is a reoccurring theme in our lives) I was in the grocery store and I saw a woman. Cannot say why she caught my attention, but it was obvious that she was distressed. She had maybe 2 things in her cart and looked lost as she wandered the aisles. Then I over heard her talking with another lady. It was quickly evident that the young woman was destitute. I thought how sad and moved on. Got to the check out with my own little bit of shopping and heard clearly the Lord say "Go back and give her $10" "Say What!" $10 might not seem much, but at that time we really didn't have it to spare. Plus I thought it would be so awkward.. embarrassing even. Nope, I knew I had misheard. So I proceeded to swipe my debit card and check out. It didn't go through.. tried again.. nope.. all the while I kept hearing "$10".. so the third time I hit cash back and got $10. Debit card worked like a charm. Once I was finished paying and bagging groceries, I went back and found the woman. Walked up to her and said "God told me to give this to you" as I handed her the money. She fell to pieces sobbing and grabbed hold of me right in the middle of Kroger. And guess what.. I didn't care what folks thought. I hugged her back and spoke blessings over her. Now I have no idea if she bought food or something else with that money. What I do know is I had obeyed and I could feel it!
I encourage you to follow through even in the "Say What" moments.. no matter how large or small. With Obedience comes blessing (Deut. 28).. and a faith that is strengthened and nurtured... and a deeper walk with the Lord.
