Lets Do Something, Even If It’s Wrong!

Evangelizing Sodom & Gomorrah

God’s got some crazy ways! His plans are so foreign to me that I hardly bother to speculate anymore. I suspect things are going to go one way and without warning I find myself dumbfounded at a strange turn of events. And I can’t seem to get any kind of grip on what He’s planning, until it’s all over. It’s like I can only make sense of it when I see it backwards. I guess when your managing a planet of eight billion creatures with free will, things can get a little unpredictable. The truth is, it’s impossible for a child of God to know what they will be, or do in the future because submission to God’s will can take some strange and unpredictable turns. 

In 1835 George Mueller got it in his head to open an orphanage. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to shake the idea. Now if I wanted to start a charity the very first thing I’d do is try to find a way to pay for it. If George had done it my way, gone to the bank or friends and tried to borrow the money……..nobody in the world would have remembered him! But old George had a different idea, he proposed that the orphanage would be funded and sustained only by prayer and faith. No fundraising, no collections, no loans, and no solicitations. Talk about not knowing where things are headed! But that’s exactly what George did, day after day and year after year. Eventually George looked back and had spent sixty years providing for over ten thousand orphans, without asking anyone for a penny. I wonder what George expected when he started? I’m certain it wasn’t what he got! 

George had many interesting things to say about living a life so completely dependent on God and I don’t imagine it’s for the weak at heart. Or maybe we’re all weak at heart and living dependent on God changes that. When George found himself trying to figure out what direction God wanted him to go, he figured he was ninety percent of the way to ascertaining the will of God when he got his own will completely out of the way. When he got himself to a place when he had no will of his own in regards to the matter and was ready to do the Lord’s will, whatever it may be. If you think Dorothy had trouble getting back to Kansas, just try getting yourself into a place where you don’t have a preference when it’s something important to you. I mentioned this to my sister and in her cut-to-the-heart-of-the-matter way, she said, “Now how exactly am I supposed to do that?”

I get it! 

On the other hand, it does speak directly to Him being Lord over your life. Lordship is said to mean that Jesus acknowledges his ownership and you give up any personal rights. Yielding to the lordship of Jesus Christ involves total and unreserved obedience. Everybody wants a savior, but a Lord…….that’s not near as appealing.

The thing to remember is that right this minute, you have no idea where you are. You may have forty hours or forty years left in this life. This week, five years ago, I went to prison, something I would never have dreamed of, and had my life turned upside down. Not by incarceration but by God. At the time, I literally thought my life was over, but He not only changed the trajectory of this life but changed where I’ll spend the next one. It’s astounding what God can do with five years and I wonder whats over the next horizon. I guarantee it will be out of left field! But I’m quite sure it won’t all be unicorns and rainbows. Heck, it’s not unicorns and rainbows now, but he’s sending me my first two grandkids and trusting me with a little kingdom work, so who knows what’s next.

Unlike old George I haven’t mastered the art of getting my wants out of the way when talking to God but I have learned that when God’s will is unclear, only fools rush ahead. 

I have had multiple lessons on this subject which is why I feel qualified to discuss it. First of all, I’ve never been a good waiter! My tendency is to do something, even if it's wrong! Or jump out ahead praying, “Lord, stop me if I’m wrong and bless me if I’m right.”

Invariably, I look back and find that I’ve rushed down the path I liked the best and proceeded to get out of God’s will and into my own. I keep forgetting that God’s timing is going to always be best since He literally knows the future. Or that He sometimes withholds directions to make me seek Him more intently. Or that He is much more interested in the relationship than what I might do for Him. Or that He has an assignment for me but I’m not quite ready yet.

Sometimes He has plans that I’m not privy to. It wouldn’t have worked out to well if Abraham suddenly had an itch to go evangelize Sodom and Gomorrah not knowing that God was fixing to rain down fire from Heaven. It pays to hear from God first!

Sometimes I simply ask the wrong question. I ask what’s God's will for my life when I should be asking what’s God's will? And how can I help?

The thing is, you weren’t created for time. You were created for eternity. This time on earth gives you the opportunity to become acquainted with Him. It gives Him time to develop your character into His likeness. Your life as a child of God ought to be driven by the future, what you will be once God has used your experiences here to mold you for future tasks here on earth and in eternity.

George Mueller didn’t expect to run an orphanage for sixty years, he just got up every day and asked what God wanted him to do today. God has lots of chores that need to be done and it’s a high honor when He lets you participate in His work. God is always at work around you….ask Him what you can do for the kingdom today!