Anyone that has moved knows that it is no small feat. A study showed that moving is more stressful than a relationship breakdown, divorce, or a new job. Crazy!
The little things like changing your address to the actual moving day can be enough to pull your hair out. It seems like as soon as I get one thing checked off the list, I am bombarded by an unexpected task. Work can also feel like this… living to check things off the list.
What if God desired to encounter us in the mix of the task rather than just crossing something off? As my car started to act up recently, I was reminded by a dear friend that perhaps I’m not at the car shop to simply get my car fixed… I’m there to encourage the person sitting next to me. Or as I visit three different places in search of a notary, perhaps I’m supposed to bless the dishelved man sitting outside the store. If I have tunnel vision, I could miss what God is ACTUALLY calling me to.
God doesn’t put us in situations to simply arrive at the end, but to rather walk with us in the journey. The process over the product.
I constantly come back to the narrative of Abraham as God instructed him to sacrifice his son. Isaac (Genesis 22). Ultimately, Abraham had to trust the goodness of God. He had to trust God’s sovereignty in his uncertainty. So he acted in accordance to God’s command, but all the while, he had one ear to the spirit of God. If Abraham would have turned off his ears, focusing on the end result, he would have acted completely outside of God’s will.
1 Samuel 15:22 reads, “But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
Above all else, God desires our hearts. God desires hearts that are attentive to his voice and obedient to follow through. When we listen, he leads us and guides us so that we may walk in step with him.
Barriers to obedience: We get locked into what we think is best. As a friend share with me, “we ask God to endorse our plans.” How silly (but true)! Last time I checked, I’m a fallible human being. I want to be a part of his plan.
At the end of the day, I am guilty of feeling entitled over my time (ha, millenials) and I feel like I’m being robbed what I should actually be spending my time on. Reality check… the time wasn’t mine to begin with. If I offer it all to the Lord and recognize any easy in my life as a gift of grace, my posture towards my time changes entirely. I am now a humble servant that delights in the plans of my Master.
“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
Like I wrote before… options are an opportunity for God to move. Inconvenience is also an opportunity for God to realign us.
“God, your ways are higher than ours. Your thoughts are higher than mine. I trust that all things are working for the good of those who love you. Please give us the eyes and heart to see our time and tasks as opportunities to see you in a new and refreshing way. Forgive us for making an idol of control and convenience. We claim that you are good and we are most satisfied when we are delighting in you!”