Tuesday, June 01, 2010

In Other Words--Radical Obedience

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Their little house had become a place for teens to come and stay. Two friends of their teenage son were temporarily camped at their home whilst dealing with some family/personal stuff. This was fine as long as their older children were away for university--but pretty cramped if they were all home together. What should they do? They sold the house, bought a bigger house and now have room for even more teenagers to have a safe haven. One of the first friends has gone back home, but two more teens (and often one of their Moms) have moved in--all with parental blessing.

Selling and moving made no sense in the housing market. They had been in that home for 20 years. But God gave them a dream and they did it. In the midst of it all a bunch of teens and their families have been shown the practical love of Jesus.

And those of us watching from the outside are amazed, intrigued and blessed to see God work in availability. (I'll admit, sometimes I'm even jealous of their courage.) The funny thing is, they don't see it as courageous. They see it as obedience. They see it as the only right thing to do. And they are right.

“God delights in using ordinary Christians who come to the end of themselves and choose to trust in His extraordinary provision. He stands ready to allocate His power to all who are radically dependent on Him and radically devoted to making much of Him.”

by David Platt in
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream


God, help me today to trust in your extraordinary provision. Help me to look at the possibilities and not the pitfalls. Continue to teach me to depend on you. Amen.

This week's hostess is Jennifer at Scraps and Snippets. Please join the group and be blessed.

5 comments:

Karen said...

Radical obedience, sometimes that is what it takes when things in life make no sense. Praise the Lord, to God things do make sense and all we need to do is trust in that.

Jennifer said...

Love the part of your prayer about looking at possibilities instead of pitfalls! And so true that so much of what we look at as great courage is "simple" obedience...which isn't always so simple! Thanks for sharing today.

Debbie Petras said...

What a great example of trust in action. I love how you wrote that they didn't see it as courage. They saw it as obedience. How true!

Many things are scary to me. But if I am being obedient to God I need not fear but instead simply do as He asks and leave the results to Him.

Blessings,
Debbie

Tami said...

What a great example of not only trust, but confidence in God's leading MiPa. It reminded me of times in my own life when following God didn't seem scary, but looking back I wonder why I wasn't scared. GOD IS FAITHFUL! It's the only explanation.

It is eerie how we experience similar events. We really must meet some day. Let me know the next time you visit the states.

Claudia said...

Doing things that don't make sense to the world because God calls us to do them is the epitome of radical obedience. Thank you for sharing this example of following Christ when what He seems to be asking is contrary to what is logical.