“But we will
be shipwrecked on an island.” Acts 27:26
It
happens all the way through the Bible. God gives someone an instruction, they
obey, and then Bam! Everything goes haywire. God called Abraham to leave his
home and county and go to the land God would give him. Abe obeyed, and the next
thing we know, there is a famine in that land (Gen.12:4,10). An angel told Mary
she would be the mother of the Messiah, which must have incited pastel visions
of glory, respect, and joy. Next thing she knows, she’s a pregnant single mom
starting labor
on the back of a donkey (Luke
1:31). When
God promised Paul that no one would die in the storm, He did not promise a
helicopter rescue. His next words were, “Oh, and Paul, you’re going to be
shipwrecked on a foreign island.”
We
often have the mistaken idea that obedience to God will result in a stroll
through the rose garden. We have adopted the false idea that following God
means our life here on earth will be easier. Many times, the opposite is true.
What if Mary had said, “No thanks” to the Son of God because her obedience
would result in heartache, embarrassment, and pain? If Paul had rejected the
shipwreck idea, the entire island
of Malta would have
missed the gospel. We are only
responsible for our obedience to God, not the results of that obedience.
God is working behind the scenes to paint a bigger picture than we can see.
When obedience is our goal, we don’t have to settle for human-sized results. We
get to experience God-sized results.
Our question at the end of each day should be this:
“Lord, was I as obedient to you today as I know how to be?” When the answer is
“yes,” our part is accomplished. The results are up to Him.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment