Are You Willing to be Used by God but Struggling with Obedience?
Is there something you know that God asked you to do, but you still haven’t been able to act on it? Maybe you’re scared. Maybe you’re feeling unqualified. Maybe you’re having trouble seeing how it will get done with the limited resources you have.
Like many of you, I also struggle with putting into immediate action some of the things that God places on my heart. I hear His whisper and depending on what He’s asking me to do, I sometimes feel super unqualified and allow intimidation to take over.
Whenever this happens, we’re focusing on the wrong thing. Rather than focus on how we’re going to do it, we need to remind ourselves that it’s not actually us doing anything at all, it’s the Holy Spirit doing it through us. We’re just the vessel. Whenever He asks us to do something, ALL the resources we need to get it done will start to show up at our doorstep as we begin to act on it. The most important part of that being the act of BEGINNING.
Most believers hope (and ask) to be used by God, and I’ve been thinking a lot about willingness versus obedience.
While willingness to be used by God and obedience are related, they’re not the same. They go hand in hand, but are two very different sides of the same coin. One can’t exist without the other. Without willingness, you definitely won’t obey God… but if you don’t obey God by doing what He has asked of you in the moment, can you truly say that you’re willing to be used by Him?
Many of us are willing because we genuinely want God to use us, but when He gives us instructions, we often struggle with doing what He’s told us to do, and doing it immediately. Delayed obedience is pretty much DISOBEDIENCE, because doing it immediately is the whole point!
Whenever God asks you to do something, there’s always a reason behind it (whether we’re aware of that reason or not). He knows what’s going on in everyone’s lives, and He knows when the perfect time is to send His divine intervention for someone who needs it. Oftentimes, God can send YOU as His way of answering someone else’s prayer in their most desperate of times.
That crying stranger on the subway may be contemplating suicide and need to hear how much God loves her in that very moment. God could be using you to stop her from jumping in front of the next train. That single mother begging for money on the highway off-ramp could be $20 away from selling her body because she feels like that’s the only option she has left to feed her kids that day. God could be using that $20 bill in your pocket to provide for her and her family, and to keep her from entering a world of darkness.
But that’s only if you let Him… if you put all your reservations aside and do what you know He wants you to do in those moments.
Of what use are we to God’s endeavour if we refuse to obey Him in His timing? Obeying Him immediately and responding to His whisper when you hear it is critical. Someone’s life may depend on it. Their life-changing encounter with God could be on the other side of your obedience.
I started writing this post a while ago, and about 2 weeks ago, I had an experience that made me think about all the times I didn’t act when I sensed God telling me to take a risk. I can’t change the past, but after seeing what could be at stake, I look at risks differently now. The impact that a person’s encounter with God will have on their lives is WAAY more important than my potential fear in any given moment.
About 2 Sundays ago, my sister and I were driving to an appointment she had right after church, and we put the address into the Waze app (similar to Google Maps). About half way there, it randomly changed our route, taking us a different way than we were originally supposed to go. She noticed and asked me why I was going a different way, I said Waze told me to, and we both shrugged it off and kept going.
Little did we know, there was a reason. God had changed our route because there was someone along that alternate route who needed to know how much God loved her.
Not long after we got off the highway, we spotted a man and woman tussling on the edge of a bridge. In a matter of seconds, we realized that he was trying to stop her from jumping off of the bridge and onto the highway below. I immediately pulled the car over and ran towards them while my sister called 911. I asked her if I could pray for her and she didn’t answer me. So I told her how much God loves her and started to pray for her anyway. She immediately became angry and asked me that if she was infact a child of God how come His blessings weren’t on her life. That broke my heart. I could see such pain in her eyes and yet I was powerless to help her. I knew that the only person that could save her was God, so I called out to Him.
Everything happened so quickly and the police arrived within 3 minutes. As we drove off, a range of emotions flooded my heart and so many thoughts were racing through my mind. It was heart breaking knowing that there are people out there (and around us) who feel SO broken that taking their own lives seems like the only remaining option. It’s been 2 weeks and I still tear up when I think about her.
We live in a world that has so much darkness, with millions of people living in brokenness every day. These people need to know just how much Jesus loves them. They’re yearning to see the power of God in action in their lives. I truly believe that God brought us out of dark situations and saved us not only for our own salvation, but for us to go out into the world and bring salvation to others as well.
2 Corinthians 1:3 – 4 reminds us that God is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we in turn can also comfort others going through troubles, with the comfort we ourselves receive(d) from God.
Luke 4:18 – 19 also reminds us that we have a God-sent Helper, and instructs us that “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
We have a limited time on this earth, and while we’re here we’ve got a job to do – bring as many people as possible into the Kingdom by sharing the love of Jesus to everyone willing to hear, and showing them God’s miracle-working power through the Holy Spirit. Because He did it for us, He can and will do it for others.
Indulge in Him.
Xoxo
