Obeying God

Have you ever read stories in the Bible and thought to yourself, "If I was [fill in the blank] I wouldn't have had any problem obeying God"?

• If I was Eve, I wouldn't have eaten the fruit.
• If I was Lot's wife, I wouldn't have looked back.
• If I was Rebekah, I wouldn't have advised Jacob to deceive his father and steal Esau's blessing.
• If I was Bathsheba, I would have stood up to the lustful King David and remained faithful to Uriah.

What an elevated opinion I sometimes have of myself. I'm of the same emotion-driven dust as these memorable women, yet I always think I'd make better decisions. As it's said, hindsight is 20/20. That's why I'd rather live my life in reverse.

Two Sundays ago my pastor was preaching and he stated that often when people are praying and asking God for direction, they think he is being silent when in reality he has already given them instructions and is simply waiting for them to comply. The problem is that often in response to God's direction we spell out all the reasons we can't be expected to do that thing, then fall back to our knees and repeat the question as if God were a Magic 8 Ball and a simple shake and quick flip will get us a different answer.

As soon as he made this point, I knew that was me. Grr. Don't ya hate that? I've spent 20 years wanting to write, and nearly as long asking God what I should do with my life. And he's seemingly remained silent. Or was it that I have carried my list of reasons I can't... won't... write in my back pocket:

• It takes a lot of work.
• It takes more creativity and talent than I have.
• I don't have a desire, and therefore no drive, to get published.
• Everything that needs to be said has already been said.
• I don't have time.
• I don't have Word installed on my laptop.
• I can't type well.
• I need to go get a cup of tea...

Alright, alright! Enough! I'll write and you, Lord, can decide what to do with it. It's all in your hands. Hopefully, when people look back on my life they won't be tempted to say, "If I had been Reese, I would have written something"!