“Never mind about others, you follow Me. . . .”

Years ago the pastor of a church we attended resigned. The congregation was upset, but he gave no reason. Their speculations were mostly unfair and painful for him. But when I asked, he told me that “God told me to.” He left, not to ‘bigger and better’ things, but in obedience and without a plan for the next thing.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you… So Abram went, as the Lord had told him… (Genesis 12:1–4)

Abraham is praised for his faith, but this pastor was criticized for his. Today’s reading in Piper’s devotional reminds me of the way even Christians will decide how other Christians should be serving God. At times, their ‘suggestions’ can be from the Lord, but if not, they might be confusing and even hurtful.

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:14–17)

After a brief look at the meaning of righteousness, it is “doing what God requires” and with this pastor in mind, I wondered if the hurtful speculation and resulting accusations could be called a mild form of persecution. I also wondered if doing nothing is sometimes criticized.
By that, if God was asking me to wait, or not giving a direct command, or not leading me to any particular ministry, and others criticized my lack of action, could that also be a form of persecution? Peter called it “revile your good behavior in Christ” and that “good” could mean I am waiting on the Lord, without any assumption from my old nature to assume I should do this or that. Serving God should always include waiting on the Holy Spirit to give His leading.

Another possibility is that when following the Holy Spirit, I’m not examining my life at all. When others thank me for what I did, I’m thinking “what are they talking about?” because walking in the Spirit means self-awareness is vague, or absent, or not important.

Besides that, serving the Lord is not always about doing the same thing as someone else. I’ve noted how evangelists stress how all Christians should be evangelists, missionaries want everyone involved in missions, etc.

Nor does obedience mean trying to do all the work that needs to be done. Preach, teach, lead, give, counsel, wait on tables, visitation, or does it mean listening for the specific job God wants for me this time and this day? Yesterday it was communication with a family member, bake pies for my hubby, and ask an estimator a question unrelated to his work and getting a surprising answer that blessed me immensely. Today, the Lord asks me to pray with others, and who knows what He will tell me to do after that. I only know that I need to keep listening and doing what He says. The NT says “some plant and others water” — without defining how those things are done, or by who.

PRAY: Jesus, when I look at You and think of my responsibility to follow in Your footsteps, You knew the future and where those steps would take You. I don’t. I can make plans, yet know that “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) One phone call, or a knock at the door, or an email, or many other events could take me a different way than my plan. You have been teaching me these last few months to listen to You by using dozens of unexpected events. Many of those ‘interruptions’ turned into opportunities to glorify You. It does not matter if others do not hear what You tell me, as long as I hear it and do what You say. Enable me to listen, and also to never assume I know what You are telling them, and remember that Your life was filled with interruptions.

Who rules my heart?

 

Today’s devotional begins with this statement: “Someday Christ will return to earth to reign in His Kingdom. In the meantime, He rules in the hearts of those who love Him.”

Really? What about those days when I don’t feel like praying? Or having devotions? Or in dismay see my Christian friends living as if they did not believe in Jesus? Or see that in myself?

We are supposed to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) and live for the will of God, like Jesus said, “Not my will but thine be done.” Yet we often pray asking God to help us with what we want to do. How few the days when I bow before God and ask His leading, looking to Him to plot my day, rather than making my plan and asking Him to endorse it, to give me what I need to make my plan happen.

Yet He gives clues that this black and white separation of my will and His is more fuzzy than I think. One of them is this OT verse: “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) God gave me an example yesterday. After church, I didn’t feel like going home other than to change and be outside. We wound up looking at something our son is hoping to purchase, a whim on our part. Then we were surprised when he and his fiancée showed up. They were surprised too, especially when it turned out that what he needed to do could only go ahead because we happened to be there. Coincidence? Or was ‘my plan’ actually God directing my steps? Not much doubt that He was involved.

MacArthur puts emphasis on human choices in the matter of conversion to Christ and on following Him. He points to God’s invitation but also the importance of our repentance and commitment. However, I remember the day Jesus ‘invited’ me into His kingdom and would describe it more as Him opening the door and ushering me through it. I don’t recall considering whether to walk in or not, nor do I remember any sense of repentance and commitment. Walking through that door seemed the most natural thing to do, as if it were my will to do it without any fuss or sense of turning from ‘sin and self’ to God.

Others may be more aware of making a ‘decision for Christ’ but this was not my experience. For me, this was as normal as taking the next breath. He reached out His hand and I took it without thinking, much like a child would when walking with daddy and coming to a place in a path that required his help. Making choices to take His hand often happens, but that came later.

Could this be a way to present the good news? For me, it was my own sin that messed up my plans. I needed help to get past it, beyond it, somehow away from sin’s ability to mess with me. This is often how I see sin in the lives of others. It is like a third party, ruining their lives and convincing them that they can fix their problems if they just ‘smarten up’ or ‘try harder’ when the problem can only be solved by taking the hand of Jesus and letting Him lead them. He may not remove all the obstacles, but He will make it possible to stop listening to the sin that so easily causes all the missteps.

What is my responsibility in this? Every day Jesus holds out His hand and I merely need to take hold of it. Sometimes the path will be clear, or not, but with Him leading, it has a purpose and a destination and I can trust Him to make sense of it. Faith is not always black and white. Nor is it walking that path by sight, by seeing where He is taking me. It is simply walking in trust that the One who holds my hand knows where we are going.

Jesus, Your Word is filled with commands that seem like choices I’m to make, yet I’m seeing them more as signals that tell me I’m trusting You and on the path. If things like repentance, commitment, and obedience are not there, then I’d better grab Your hand and let You put me where I need to be. I cannot do that myself and every time I try, I wind up focused on my will instead of Yours, on trying to make it happen without holding tight to You. The reality is that You are the Savior; I cannot do this without You.

THINK: Is there a difference between telling others to repent from their sin and telling them to put their hand in Jesus’ hand letting Him lead them through life? Does my gospel message come across as ‘turn or burn’ or as ‘trust and follow’?