God does speak to us on a regular basis, and when it doesn't turn out like we thought it should, that does not mean that we didn't hear correctly.
Let me give one example: You know that God is telling you to move to a different city. So if he's clear about that, you expect that he'll provide you with a job, a wonderful church where you can get involved and reach the city, a close-knit set of godly friends- everything you'll need to thrive in that city. But you get there, spend 6 months there, and nothing is working out. You end up having to move back home. So then automatically you think that you heard God incorrectly in the first place- he didn't really call you to move to that city. "I must have heard him wrong," you say.
And that's exactly where I believe we go wrong- limited expectations. In so many instances in life we put God in a box without really realizing it. And that box is what comes from our expectations. Let's take a look at Abraham in Genesis 22. (This is one of my favorite happenings in the Bible.) God clearly called him to sacrifice his son. We know that. We don't argue with that. It's written plain as day. So how is it that in the end, Abraham was able to walk back home with his son Isaac walking by his side? Did he hear God wrong? Nope.
I assume that Abraham thought that God meant to literally kill Isaac. But we see, even in the beginning, that he wasn't going to put God in a box. He tells Isaac that "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering." But the story keeps going and there's no lamb. Abraham prepares Isaac for the ultimate sacrifice, and just as he's about to slay his son, an Angel of the Lord stops him. There's the lamb.
All through the Bible we read that God's ways/thoughts are higher than our ways/thoughts. He will direct our paths. It's all about him. He uses our weaknesses to show his strength. He loves us. Oh, how he loves us.
So when God tells you to do something, do it. And don't expect it to turn out like you'd think. Don't limit your expectations. Expect him to use your obedience for his glory and your good. Expect him to grow you in ways you never imagined. Expect him to teach you hard and painful lessons, like how to love him more than anyone else in the world. Expect him to use what you take from that experience to grow his kingdom.
Your thoughts?
Brandy,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about God's will for our lives.
Some times we just need to go with what He is telling us, and He will bless in ways we never expected
Love and prayers!
Grandmother
I think you're quite right, good Brandy - and I think sometimes God sends us places for other people's sakes, too - to do something in their lives we may never know about. In the Abraham story, for instance, who can say how many of us have read it thousands of years later and took courage and wisdom from his faith? And surely Isaac learned something that day, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
In 2006, after my husband was laid off, God told me that my husband and I were supposed to move to a certain city, that it was where he had the job he had planned for my husband. We live 3 states away, so my husband wasn't sure I was hearing God. In the past 7 years since then he has not had success with any job he has had. This post was exactly what I needed to read! I had begun to doubt that God had spoken to me. I thought maybe it was just me talking to myself in my mind. I now believe God was absolutely was speaking to me, just as I thought in 2006. Now to convince my husband...
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