But I Don't Want To
Have you ever had to do something that you absolutely did not want to do? Maybe it was tell a friend the truth when you knew it would hurt their feelings? Maybe it was disciplining your child after a display of horrible behavior. Perhaps you were let go from a job and had to go find a new one. Or maybe where you are simply isn’t where God wants you to be and He is trying to lead you to the Promised Land. There isn’t any doubt that at least one point in your life, and probably more than once, you are going to have to do something that you really... really…really don’t want to do.
Our hesitation to do something that we know we need to do but do not want to do can stem from a lot of different things. Pride, laziness, fear and feelings that sometimes can’t be identified; you just know you aren’t feeling it. What do we do when we know the task at hand is going to be beneficial in the long run but sucks lemons at the current moment? If you are anything like me you might, cry, kick, scream, make excuses, pray, pray some more, ask God if He’s sure this is what He’s telling you to do, put it off a tad longer and then eventually succumb to the fact it must be done; or not and you decide to go around that mountain one more time. Or maybe you are ahead of me in your walk with the Lord and you have learned to be obedient immediately. Congratulations! Pray for the rest of us.
I am currently faced with another crossroad. They seem to be coming more frequently these days. This time the path that I must go down I am resisting. I know it’s for the good. I know it is going to benefit a lot of people besides myself. However this path means change and it is change that is unfamiliar to me and I don’t like it. I am hearing the scripture in my head “choose this day whom you will serve”. Joshua 24:14-15 I think God is giving me this one because serving Him doesn’t always mean what we think it means. Serving Him means to serve others. I don’t have time right now to explain the entire order of things but you need to know that your family comes first. The ones God has entrusted to you to care for come before others. The enemy loves to tear families apart. He loves to tempt you to go down his path and he disguises it really well but his path always brings division. I share this simply to help you discern if it really is God prodding your Spirit, your flesh or the devil. Be wise when making decisions.
I am finding my current encouragement from the book of Jonah. Jonah absolutely did not want to do what God was asking Him to do. He ran away thinking if He resisted long enough God would just let him off the hook. No dice. Instead his disobedience put
others in danger. When he finally came to his senses and did what God wanted him to do an entire city was saved. A city of sinners. A city that Jonah thought didn’t deserve saving. It’s a good thing Jonah isn’t God or we’d all be doomed. I am encouraged by Jonah in this way. I don’t want to be like him. I don’t want my disobedience to put others in danger. I don’t want God to put me in the belly of the whale just to get my attention. I want Him to know he’s got all of me. Obedience is part of our worship. Furthermore if going down this particular path at this point in my life has the potential to save a city (my family, a friend, a co-worker, anyone) then I need to be obedient. I want to be obedient.
God is faithful. The day we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior should also be the day we put our physical life in His hands. We have this understanding when we get “saved” that our soul is headed to heaven but we fail to think about what His blood shed means for our physical life. Jesus was flesh. He lived a perfect sinless life to show us it could be done. He did it because of the prize that was set before Him. Us. The prize set before us is heaven but it should also be all of the other people in the world that we have the opportunity to share the gospel with, encourage, serve and love. Don’t be Jonah. If God is asking you to do something right now that is making your flesh super uncomfortable you can bet He has an amazing reason for asking you to do it.
Our hesitation to do something that we know we need to do but do not want to do can stem from a lot of different things. Pride, laziness, fear and feelings that sometimes can’t be identified; you just know you aren’t feeling it. What do we do when we know the task at hand is going to be beneficial in the long run but sucks lemons at the current moment? If you are anything like me you might, cry, kick, scream, make excuses, pray, pray some more, ask God if He’s sure this is what He’s telling you to do, put it off a tad longer and then eventually succumb to the fact it must be done; or not and you decide to go around that mountain one more time. Or maybe you are ahead of me in your walk with the Lord and you have learned to be obedient immediately. Congratulations! Pray for the rest of us.
I am currently faced with another crossroad. They seem to be coming more frequently these days. This time the path that I must go down I am resisting. I know it’s for the good. I know it is going to benefit a lot of people besides myself. However this path means change and it is change that is unfamiliar to me and I don’t like it. I am hearing the scripture in my head “choose this day whom you will serve”. Joshua 24:14-15 I think God is giving me this one because serving Him doesn’t always mean what we think it means. Serving Him means to serve others. I don’t have time right now to explain the entire order of things but you need to know that your family comes first. The ones God has entrusted to you to care for come before others. The enemy loves to tear families apart. He loves to tempt you to go down his path and he disguises it really well but his path always brings division. I share this simply to help you discern if it really is God prodding your Spirit, your flesh or the devil. Be wise when making decisions.
I am finding my current encouragement from the book of Jonah. Jonah absolutely did not want to do what God was asking Him to do. He ran away thinking if He resisted long enough God would just let him off the hook. No dice. Instead his disobedience put
God is faithful. The day we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior should also be the day we put our physical life in His hands. We have this understanding when we get “saved” that our soul is headed to heaven but we fail to think about what His blood shed means for our physical life. Jesus was flesh. He lived a perfect sinless life to show us it could be done. He did it because of the prize that was set before Him. Us. The prize set before us is heaven but it should also be all of the other people in the world that we have the opportunity to share the gospel with, encourage, serve and love. Don’t be Jonah. If God is asking you to do something right now that is making your flesh super uncomfortable you can bet He has an amazing reason for asking you to do it.
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