God has been amazing! HE IS AMAZING!! I sometimes wonder why we are slow to respond to Him. I wonder why sometimes it takes me sooo long to learn the lesson. I wonder why I procrastinate to be busy about His commands. I wonder how I could not be obedient the first time I am told, for some reason I wait for that "sign" or that one more time of telling. I wait to hear the word audibly or for that extra reassurance that "this" is what He is telling me to do. Is it fear? Is it questions of the unknown? Is it lack of faith? What is it that holds us back from immediately taking a step in faith after Him that calls us.
Seven years ago we built our home and had just moved in. I remember very vividly sitting at our round breakfast table staring out the tall window on a cold January morning crying out to God for answers and for direction. He spoke and I looked all around for an audible voice; I looked for a sign, for something besides what He was speaking to my heart. I questioned his calling and wasn't ready to be obedient to what He was calling me to do. Reckless abandon, taking up my cross, stepping outside my comfort zone, what Lord?? Why me? Why now? I can't do it! I am scared! I don't have what it takes! I am too young! I have small kids and I am just too busy! I have to take care of my husband! I am afraid what everyone will think! I don't have the skills Lord! Lord you must be thinking about someone else!
You are probably thinking WOW, He must have asked you to sell everything and move to Africa to be a missionary. Not exactly, but it sure felt like He was requiring too much from me. Oh the lies from Satan!
I read a book during that time titled "If You Want To Walk On Water You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat" By John Ortberg. Incredible words from God to me at that time, regarding Peter and when God called Him to walk on the water. You see God calls us all! We each have a different calling but He does call each of us. It is what we do with that calling that will impact our world positively for Him or negatively!
In the book there was a story that still speaks to my heart that I would like to share with you......
"Sometime after Florence, my paternal grandmother, died, my grandfather called my mother with an unusual offer.
"Kathy," he said, in his heavy Swedish accent. "I was going through some of Florence's things in the attic when I came across a box of old dishes. I was going to get rid of them, but I noticed that they're blue--your favorite color. Why don't you take a look at them, if you want them, they're yours; otherwise, I'll give them to the Salvation Army.
So my mother went through the attic, expecting to find some run-of-the-mill dinnerware. Instead, when she opened the box, she was looking at some of the most exquisite china she had ever seen. Each plate had been individually painted with a pattern of forget-me-nots. The cups were inlaid mother-of-pearl. The dishes and cups were rimmed with gold. The plates had been handcrafted in a Bavarian factory that was destroyed during the Second World War, so they were literally irreplaceable.
Yet my mother had been in the family for twenty years, and she had never seen this china before. She asked my father about it. He had grown up in the family--and he had never seen it, either.
Eventually they found out from some older family members the story of the china. When Florence was very young, she was given china over a period of years. They were not a wealthy family, and the china was quite valuable, so she only got a piece at a time for gifts--confirmation, graduation, or a birthday.
Why had my parents never seen it? To know that, you have to know something about the character of the Swedes. We are a cautious kind of people. We don't roll the dice easily. For instance, my two great aunts lived for eighty years in a beautiful Victorian home built by my great-grandfather in the 1800's. The most beautiful room in the house was a parlor. It was generally reserved for very special guests. No guest that special ever came to the house, so the parlor didn't get used much.
When Florence received a piece of china---because it was so valuable, because it was used it might get broken--she would wrap it very carefully in tissue, put it in a box, and store it in the attic for a very special occasion. No occasion that special ever came along. So my grandmother went to her grave with the greatest gift of her life unopened and unused.
Then my mother was given the dishes. She uses them promiscuously---every chance she has. They have finally made it out of box."
With Christmas past and the new year on the brink, I pray that you have accepted the greatest gift known to man...Jesus. I pray that you aren't afraid to take Him out of the box. He is calling us to live in full obedience to Him. Reckless abandon, taking up our cross daily, stepping out on the water with Him. You have not experienced the fullness of anything until you have experienced the fullness of living obedient to Him! Your calling will most likely be different from mine but what I do know is that fear shouldn't be in the equation. When He calls you, He will equip you! Our job is to be obedient with the gift!! Don't leave Him in the box!!! The ride of your life awaits you in Him!! It's time for some water walking!!
Matthew 14:29 "So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus"
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