The 40 Day Journey - Day 24 (Decision Making)

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' 

when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."  Isaiah 30:21

I wondered if this day would come.  No big revealing.  No struggle.  No questions.  I sat down with God this afternoon and I thought, "I'll just rest with Him today".  I was super tempted to open my Bible at "random" and let my finger fall on a verse.

Please tell me you've done this.  More times than I can count, mostly in my teen years, when I needed encouragement or an answer to a life question, I would find my Bible.  I would let it fall open, then close my eyes, and let fate find a verse.  I will admit if it fell on one that didn't work for me, I'd take my do-over.  Occasionally this worked.  I ended up being encouraged.  Most the time it didn't work and I'd go get a snack or watch TV.

I think we can fall into that trap of approaching God like a big Magic 8 Ball.  Oh, we wouldn't admit it, we'd call it something much more spiritual.  We ask God for something, don't like His answer, so give it another whirl.  Maybe ask a different way, or just go our own way.

I am going to a conference this Friday and I need to pick out which workshops I'll attend.  I thought maybe God could show me which ones He has for me, during our hour (yes, I was trying to multitask). It felt more like I was picking from a menu. This one sounds good, but that sounds better. I wonder which one someone else will pick.  I don't really need that one, and so on. Some sessions have several good choices, a couple sessions don't have anything that really stand out to me.

How do I know if it is God telling me which to choose, or is it my own desires taking over, or is the enemy distracting me?  Is this all just randomness?  Do the little things matter? Does He even care which workshop I attend?

So think of someone you know really well. You know how you can sometimes finish their sentences? You have inside jokes.  You know what they are going to say when you bring up a certain topic. I think as we draw near to God, as we spend more time with Him. We start to understand His character. We can anticipate what would please Him, what He would say.

Remember when you were in Junior High and you wanted to have a sleep over.  You knew exactly which parent to ask, because you knew what their answer would be.  You knew because you'd spent your whole life living under the same roof with them.

I think this may be a glimpse of what it is like when we want to know God's will for us or for a decision we need to make.  Oh, I think He will tell us specifically when we ask.  But I also think that since we know His character, since we know Him, sometimes we just know the right decisions.

So tomorrow I will look over the catalog for the conference again and prayerfully circle the ones that draw my attention. I will trust my relationship with Him.  I will ask Him to redirect my steps if I make the wrong choice.  And then I'll close the catalog and spend more time with Him and not a brochure.

John Piper said, "The quest for guidance is the quest for holiness! Not in ecstatic heights but in spiritual depth."

As you ask, seek and knock, may He answer, be found and open the next door for you. As you know Him more, may you know His heart for you. And if you need to let your Bible flop open because you are just too weary to do anything else, may you be encouraged.

The 40 Day Journey - Day 16 (Obedience)

Disclaimer: I was hoping God would tie all that I learned this week into a neat little bow to top off another week of listening to Him.  I have typed and deleted enough words for 100 more blog posts tonight.  I debated even publishing what follows.  But by faith, I am putting it out there. I guess I am saying all this because there is so much more to these portions of scriptures.  This is just a small morsel as we taste and see that the Lord is good.

A crazy thing happened as we were driving home from Gig Harbor last week. Mt. Rainier was right in front of us. Then as we approached the bridge it moved!  It was on our left.  Of course the mountain didn't move, just our view of it changed.  If you've ever kayaked on American Lake the same thing happens, the mountain seems to move.

So as I have looked at Luke 14 more times than I can count this week, the truth of it hasn't changed. I just think God has me looking at it from a different perspective now.

I came across the above verse earlier this week and it has stuck with me.  Of course the Keith Green song also keeps playing in my mind.  The verse says, to obey is better than sacrifice. As I consider the cost to follow Christ, it equates with sacrifice for me.  This verse says obedience is better than sacrifice. So if we are to sacrifice for Christ, how much better is it then to obey Him?  Is that what God is showing me?

So do we just obey for the sake of obeying?  Remember when your mom would ask you to do something and she would say "Just obey me" and we would follow up with every parent's favorite question, "Why?!".  To be countered with the famous, "Because I said so".  I have sometimes thought of God in this same way.  The bible says to obey, so I will because He says so.

As I looked up verses on obedience I noticed many of them had promises attached (maybe all of them??).  Act 5:32 promises the Holy Spirit to those that obey.  Hebrews 5:9 promises eternal salvation to those who obey.  In Genesis 6 God promises to establish a covenant with Noah if he obeys and builds the ark.  There are many more examples.

So maybe we obey and count the cost not just because God says so, but so we can receive His promises.  That sure seems selfish though. Which would apparently work for me.  But we also live by faith and somehow this fits in too. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), even with our obedience.  So it must take faith to obey God.  And we believe that He rewards those that seek Him.  But again, it can't be for the reward, right?

Luke 14:27 says, "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple."  This verse says to carry our own cross, it must look different for each of us.  What God has asked of me is not what He has asked of you.  I must take up my own cross and follow Him. How do I do that?  By being obedient.  Christ was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And why?  For the joy set before Him....for the promise.  (See Philippians 2 and Hebrews 12:2)

Christ could not have been motivated to obey out of selfishness, to obey for the reward.  He was God after all, probably doesn't get much better than that.  But I wonder if He was strengthened by the promise?  The promise of eternal life for you and for me gave Him strength to endure the greatest cost to anyone ever.

I do still think it is important to consider the cost in following Christ, but more importantly I think we need to obey Him.  Even if we don't understand.  And we can only obey Him by our faith in Him. May His promises strengthen us as we journey together this road of obedience set before us.