WHEN GOD TELLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO DO

Date: Mon Feb 26 23:55:18 2007

Most people have no problem obeying God when God is telling them to do something they want to do anyway. They may want to love their wife more, quit smoking, or lose weight.

It's the same for children, who will obey their parents when they would have done it anyway, or in marriage, when a wife obeys her husband because she agrees with him or an employee follows the boss's instructions because they concur with the decision.

It gets sticky, though, when our will is crossed by anyone. A child throws a temper tantrum when his or her will is crossed. A wife goes ballistic when her husband gives her a command she finds irksome. An employee undermines his or her boss when they believe their expertise was ignored. It is also a problem when Jesus Christ makes requirements of us that do not fit into our five year plan. It has been well said that if he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all! People accept Christ into their lives and begin their walk of discipleship. Sooner or later, the Lord will ask us to do something we do not want to do. He will ask us to witness to an associate. He will ask us to stop eating dessert. He will tell us not to spend more than $30,000 on a car when we had a Lexus in mind. He will tell us to turn off talk radio or a favorite TV show to spend time alone with him. He will tell us to go 65 instead of 80, even though we will not be going with the flow of traffic. He may even tell us to sell our business and move to Uganda.

It never ceases to amaze me that most people know nothing of what a "LORD" truly is! He is supreme, and his word is law. He is a God of love, but we forget that it was because of that love that Jesus Christ had to be scourged and mocked and crucified. Those things are not in accordance with our will. It may surprise you when I say this, but I do not have a problem with that. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayer, NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE! Jesus' will was not to die like that! He really wanted there to be another way. Yet he submitted himself to the Father, and the rest is history. We do not think less of the love of Jesus for us because his will had to be subjugated to the will of God. Jesus was a real person and there is no way anybody would WANT to and would WILL to die as he died! Yet he accepted God's will and yielded up his body and his life for us. He laid it down, as no one could take it

So I tell you today, lay your will at the feet of God. Let him put the desire in you to do WHATEVER is required, and let your life be used of God to bring life to the world. He is a mighty God, and as Romans 12:1 says, being a LIVING SACRIFICE is only our REASONABLE service.