Obeying God When It Doesn't Make Sense
Isaiah 55:8-9
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
How many times have we decided, "That must not be what the Lord is asking of me; it doesn't make sense."
Like when the Lord tells you to "tell that guy who looks like he's about to murder someone that God loves him."
"Lord, I don't want to get murdered today."
Or, "I know you bought your favorite food, but that guy walking over there sure would enjoy a hot meal."
"But I'm hungry, and I've been craving this all week."
It's natural. It's human. We think understanding means safety. If we can't see how it will turn out, we somehow feel the risk is too high, so we back out.
Here is the truth: We are required to act based on who we know God is, not what we know. If we base our decisions on who God is, then obedience is the only answer, no matter the cost!
The enemy loves to whisper doubt, telling us that God is withholding something good from us or that His commands are hurting rather than protecting us. Delayed obedience or trying to justify disobedience is just a different name for unbelief.
Obeying God when it doesn't make sense requires trusting His character more than our own understanding.
Yesterday, I was blessed with helping someone with their car. They had taken it elsewhere and then got ghosted. No returned calls, no messages, nothing.
I found the problem with the car rather quickly, and they agreed to go pick up the part. I installed it, reset the computer, and then retested everything to be sure it was working correctly. No issues.
Once I finished, I felt the Lord telling me to ask them if they were Christian. I knew they were not, and I started to justify not saying anything.
"It could upset them. What if I ask and they get mad?"
I pretty much convinced myself that it was a bad idea to ask, so I wasn't going to do it.
The Holy Spirit convicted me, and against all odds, I obeyed.
I asked, and they said, "No sir, I am not."
What the heck? I knew it! What was all that for?
Now I'm stuck feeling like I need to justify my question.
After explaining a little, I said that I usually ask people to pray about what the Lord wanted them to pay. If God says $5, then that's what it is.
So after I told them that, I asked them to pay whatever they felt was right.
They showed up and paid me about four times what I would have charged because they were so relieved that they had found someone they could trust.
God blesses obedience!
I didn't understand why God wanted me to ask that question. I almost talked myself out of it.
But looking back, I can see that the Lord was doing something I couldn't have planned or predicted.
That's the thing about obeying God when it doesn't make sense. We don't always get to see what He's doing, and we certainly don't get to decide how it should turn out.
We are called to obey, not understand.
Do you need it to make sense?
1 Corinthians 1:24-27
“But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. ”
