Good morning…

He has a big decision to make, a decision that will affect his future and the future of many. I am not focused on the outcome of his current decision, whether he chooses to do this or chooses to do that. I am most interested in his prayerful decision making process. I have said to him, “I do not want you to just do the easy thing.” I want him to do God’s thing.

Doing God’s thing is rarely easy. Actually, it is hard to discern the silent desire of an invisible Being. Really hard. Extremely hard. Then, if the LORD’s desire somehow comes through soft and strong, it is difficult to follow through on something we never planned to do. Think Noah building an ark in the desert with no rain in the forecast. Think Abraham becoming a dad at age ninety-nine. Think Moses being God’s spokesperson while plagued with a speech impediment. Think David being a young shepherd boy called in from the fields to become king. Think Esther speaking up in the face of violent injustice, “for such a time as this.” Think unwed teenager Mary giving birth to the Savior of our world. Think Saul killing Christians right and left before being blinded and transformed into the Bible’s most prolific writer, Paul.

I want this faithful, young man to discern and to do God’s thing because I sense that the LORD’s plan for him is to save the lives of many. Just like Noah. Just like Abraham. Just like Moses. Just like David. Just like Esther. Like Mary. Just like Paul. Just like you and just like me.

It is always easier to do the familiar, to do again what we have done, to meet the needs we know how to meet, with the people who call our name. Yet, if an old comfort zone is not God’s choice for us, our spiritual gifts will sour, stifle, stagnate, and those strangers God intends to save through us will be forced to find another way onto the lap of our LORD.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it, Romans 12:2 (MSG),

Sue