Admin work to be organized and done quickly.
Stop waiting. Find somewhere to get involved. Don’t delay your obedience in using your gifts.
2) When you don’t repent of sin…
We all ask the Lord to forgive us, or at least most of the time. But when? How long did it take you? Sin is vicious. It takes a lot of self-reflection to see when we do it and a lot of humility to repent of it. In my mind, that’s a lot of hard work and I’ll be honest that sometimes, I don’t want to put in all that work. Or I’ll just wait a good long time to really come before the Lord with certain sin issues because of my pride. I wait, because I know the Lord loves me nonetheless and, in doing so, I delay my obedience.
I realized this was happening in my own life with another person. It was a scenario in which, for various reasons, I was hurt and angry at them. I also couldn’t choose to not have them in my life anymore; it was a person whom, because of family circumstance, that I was bound to be around. When people would ask me how I was doing, I’d say, “I hate them and I’m really hurt. I know I need to forgive them, but I can’t right now, so I’m waiting.” Bitterness and unforgiveness were seeping into my heart. The Lord in his kindness and mercy was leading me to repentance, but I chose to disobey. I knew it was wrong and I just did not want to repent and start loving the person like Jesus did.
Paul says in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” I can’t say it any better. We are not called to wait in our sin and wait to come before the Lord and repent, because of his loving kindness. The Lord wants us to hear His voice when He calls for our obedience and to act on it now.
Is there something in your life now that you know is sin and have not come before the Lord to ask for forgiveness? What are you waiting for? He’s waiting. Don’t delay your obedience.
3) When you don’t do that ridiculous thing the Lord is asking you to do….
Maybe you just read that one and said to yourself, “I don’t think God has asked me to do anything ridiculous lately.”
Well, He probably has. Everyone’s “ridiculous thing” is going to look different. Is yours walking up to that homeless person and praying with them? Is it inviting your neighbor to church? Is it selling all your things and going to serve overseas? Is it loving and respecting your husband without anything in return? Is it fasting for that situation to see answered prayer? Is it raising your hands in worship? Is it sharing the Gospel boldly without apology to that person with whom you’ve been skirting the topic in conversation?
Mine was resigning from my job to pursue more of my calling, with nothing lined up. Even as I type it now it still sounds ridiculous. But I knew the Lord was pulling me out of the ministry I was a part of, for something else. To say that it was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made would be an understatement. I considered it my second home. I was known and comfortable there. I wanted to delay my obedience. I kept going back and forth. “One more year, Lord,” knowing that my time there would have still been blessed by Him. What I was really doing was delaying my obedience in something He was asking me to do now, and that was disobedience.
Jesus calls us to live out a ridiculous faith of trusting and walking out by faith with immediate obedience. We can see countless examples of this in Scripture.
Mary, anyone? A young virgin mother bearing the Son of God. What about Moses? A stuttering man chosen to lead a nation out of slavery. And let’s not forget Jesus using broken sinful disciples to heal and preach the Good News. That’s just naming a few.
There will be many times that our immediate obedience to the Lord comes with days of doubt, worrisome looks when we tell others, straight-out rejection from others, being humbled, fear of failure and even loneliness. But God. Isn’t that the best phrase ever? But God will honor your obedience. He sees you walking out in faith and trusting Him when you choose to not delay.
When you don’t delay in using the gifts He gave you, you get to bless others and further His kingdom.
When you don’t delay in repentance, you get to experience His sweet kindness and love that leads you to that place.
When you don’t delay in doing that ridiculous thing that He asks you to do, you get to experience what thousands of believers have before you, being able to walk out in full, unabandoned faith and trust in a secure God.
When I closed my Abraham unit with my students, where this phrase all started, I asked my students one question: What we can learn about God’s character from reading the story of Abraham? A girl in the back raised her hand and said, “Sometimes God asks you to do something ridiculous and you just have to obey, because He knows best and it will always work out for your good.”
Well said, 9-year-old. Because He does and it will most definitely all work out for your good when we obey immediately.
