Is it (im)possible?
.
In a world of voices and opportunities, it can hard to discern the source of many of the ideas floating through our heads. Is this plan from my flesh? Is this nudging from the Holy Spirit? Is this desire from the enemy?! The possibilities can be paralyzing. How do I determine who wants me to step out?
.
God does not call us to do things we can accomplish in our own strength. What would the point of that be, anyway? We already know what we should and shouldn’t do through His Word and our conscience. Rather, God calls us to do what we cannot do. He calls us to shout down walls. He calls us to defy kings. He calls us to walk on water, to feed the hungry, and to speak in languages we don’t know. He calls us to heal the sick with a word. He calls us to raise the dead. He calls us to tithe, to pray, and to love each other.
.
God calls us to work in the world as a witness to the world, and yet not be corrupted by the world. God calls us to pray for healing, expecting healing, and yet be content to see His will being done in our lives. God calls us to cross the street, the hallway, or the room and tell someone who has absolutely no interest in Him that God loves and died for them. God calls us to do greater things than even He has done.
.
So, one way we can know if God is asking us to do something in particular (aside form the regular possible things of holy living) is by their seeming impossibility. I say seeming, because “all things are possible” with God.
.
Yet, even as I write this I discover something more amazing than understanding when God is calling us to a particular act. That is the realization that the holy, transcendent, awesome God of the universe would condescend to speak to ME! It isn’t just that He wants to be seen as glorious. God can do that on His own, and does. The more amazing thing is that God wants to be seen as glorious in ME.
.
“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
In a world of voices and opportunities, it can hard to discern the source of many of the ideas floating through our heads. Is this plan from my flesh? Is this nudging from the Holy Spirit? Is this desire from the enemy?! The possibilities can be paralyzing. How do I determine who wants me to step out?
.
Q: How do we know when it's God asking us to do something?
A: It’s impossible!
God does not call us to do things we can accomplish in our own strength. What would the point of that be, anyway? We already know what we should and shouldn’t do through His Word and our conscience. Rather, God calls us to do what we cannot do. He calls us to shout down walls. He calls us to defy kings. He calls us to walk on water, to feed the hungry, and to speak in languages we don’t know. He calls us to heal the sick with a word. He calls us to raise the dead. He calls us to tithe, to pray, and to love each other.
.
God calls us to work in the world as a witness to the world, and yet not be corrupted by the world. God calls us to pray for healing, expecting healing, and yet be content to see His will being done in our lives. God calls us to cross the street, the hallway, or the room and tell someone who has absolutely no interest in Him that God loves and died for them. God calls us to do greater things than even He has done.
.
So, one way we can know if God is asking us to do something in particular (aside form the regular possible things of holy living) is by their seeming impossibility. I say seeming, because “all things are possible” with God.
.
Yet, even as I write this I discover something more amazing than understanding when God is calling us to a particular act. That is the realization that the holy, transcendent, awesome God of the universe would condescend to speak to ME! It isn’t just that He wants to be seen as glorious. God can do that on His own, and does. The more amazing thing is that God wants to be seen as glorious in ME.
.
“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Comments