Have you ever felt God calling you to do something but you held back? Perhaps even chose to say “NO” immediately?
Why “NO”?
Why did you do that? Was it because it is something out of your comfort zone? Or perhaps it was something that required too much from you? Too much time, too much energy, too much discipline, too much money?
Consider saying “YES, Lord!”
Both times when I was asked to share at our home church, FGA Singapore, I said “NO” almost immediately. Why? It is not as if I had not spoken in public before.
Don’t laugh but, sharing at our home church is different from sharing at other places. Why? For one, if I did not “deliver” to expectations, it would be downright embarrassing for me (and my family!) and for the person who recommended me. And then, I would have to meet the same people week after week! As a guest speaker, even if I were terrible, the likelihood of me meeting the people in the congregation or audience again is pretty slim.
It was all about meeting Man’s expectations and my pride. God did not feature in my decision or thoughts AT ALL.
But both times when I went to the Lord, He not only said to say “yes” but gave me a message for the people. Almost immediately.
Do it scared
In this post, I would like to encourage you to say “YES” to the Lord. To be obedient to His calling. Step up to it and JUST DO IT! Do it scared as the saying goes.
God is a good and loving Father
In my walk with the Lord, I have learnt that God’s plans are always good. It can’t be anything else because He is good. He is a good and loving Father who always wants the best for me, His child. He would never ask me to do something bad. Yes, it may look like a bad idea to me in the beginning, but in the end, it is for good. Always. And I may not like the process at all but it is always for good.
Lack of faith? Abundance of fears?
It is our our lack of faith that hold us back? Our fears that tell us that we are not good enough? We give ourselves too many reasons not to obey God and then over-rationalise things. Seriously, if we wait for everything to be perfect and for us to be ready and good enough (both of which are subjective terms), nothing will ever get accomplished.
I have learnt that God meets us at our level of faith. And then He takes us another step forward or upward. As Martin Luther King Jr said, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.
God calls, God equips
Because, when God asks you to do something, He WILL equip you. It may not be in the way you want but He will.
When God called us to trust Him with our family size and spacing
When God asked us to trust Him with our family size and spacing, wouldn’t it be great if He had thrown in a housekeeper, a chef, a nanny, a chauffeur and a spacious mansion to boot? Or how about just babies that slept through the night all the time and toddlers or teens who never threw temper tantrums?
He didn’t.
He did however, upgrade us from a 2-bedroom apartment to a 4-bedroom HDB maisonette. And introduced us to two magical household helpers called the Roomba and the Scooba. He also gave us 7 dishwashers which do not need electricity to run. Some models are better than others but they all work.
And then to deal with the other stuff, He gave me … coffee.
When God called us to homeschool the children
People think we homeschool because we hate the system or want to shelter our children from the big, bad world out there.
Nope. We took that step back in 2004 because He told us to.
RELATED POST: Why we Homeschool
Despite my initial reluctance, I obeyed and have reaped many benefits of having homeschooled the children. Yes, even through the good days and horrible days.
God equips … I am not a trained teacher and as the children will gladly tell you, I am quite bad in Maths and Chinese – half the subjects the children have to take at PSLE! But God provided help in the areas I am weak in. He used what we have and what we didn’t have. And then, He fills in all the gaps.
Don’t get me wrong, we work hard and I am not being super spiritual. We all work hard. But when God calls, God equips. He opens doors. We are truly grateful.
What is God telling you to obey Him on?
So … Is God telling you to DO something or NOT to do something?
Don’t just automatically say NO to God. Pause a little. Seek His face. What is He saying? When God opens a door, don’t slam it shut. Just be mindful and discerning. Not all doors are opened by God. Sometimes, what seems like doors of opportunities are actually doors of distraction.
Seek the Lord. Say “YES, Lord!” and go do it scared. He is with you!