"Let us go to Judea
again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?"
—John 11:7-8
{CHAMBERS} “Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says,
I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. […] I
know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet
persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate
enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will
only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. […] Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step
out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). […] Faith[…]
is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the
Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead. Are you debating
whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait
until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with
unrestrained joy. […] Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas
about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise
His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do
it” (John 2:5).”
{ELGIN} Are you living in the world of what is reasonable? Reasonable meaning that you are able to
reason out what you are going to do? I
can’t tell you how many times someone has said .. “I would love to do what you
do on the mission field, but I can’t afford it.” My thought at that moment .. “you can’t
afford not to … not to obey God” God
will never ask you to do what is reasonable in the eyes of men. To sacrifice the things of this world for
your faith is not reasonable from the world view. People – many Christians – are fearful when
it comes to giving up their comfort, their plans, their financial security to
follow God. We can read the stories in
the Bible .. the rich young ruler for example .. and think ..tsk .. tsk .. how
could he walk away from Jesus? And then do exactly the same thing. While in Haiti, a Haitian friend and I were
driving one day. I mentioned the fact
that Haitians seemed to be concerned that my truck was dirty, but were not
concerned about the trash in the streets.
He agreed with me that it was a contradiction, rolled the window down
and tossed trash out onto the street.
How could he agree with me and then participate in the very thing we
were speaking against? It’s a problem
with humanity .. we don’t see ourselves and what we do or don’t do in the same
way that we see other people. We marvel
at the great missionaries of times past.
We love reading about their exploits .. their sacrifices .. but never
imagine that God might call us, and
often does, to leave our nets. That is not reasonable!
Just yesterday, a friend
asked me how we ended up in Haiti. I
shared the story about how God spoke to us by His Spirit through the Word, prayer,
circumstances and other saints about our going.
Then I told him that a friend in Waveland looked me squarely in the face
when I told him what we were going to do and asked “Are you crazy?” He had been to Haiti and knew the challenges
there. I told him that it was not my
idea .. it was God’s idea .. and where God guides, God provides. We spent four wonderful years in Haiti and
still participate in ministry there. There
is a common call to all Christians … love God with your all … abandon your
affection for the things of this world … walk in obedience to His Word … Love
others more than yourself. That call is
a precursor to service. You may not be
sent to a foreign mission field, or even across town. But where ever God has you … you must first
be faithful to your common call if you are going to have value in the kingdom
.. and that is not for your glory but for His. And be ready to do the unreasonable!
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