 It’s easy to think redirection is failure isn’t it. But really, when we are in motion, that is when we get to see God lead us. It’s not by sitting still. Take a car for example. When a car is moving, you can round a corner. But if you’re sitting in a car that’s not even turned on, you can turn the wheel whichever way you want but your not actually leading or directing the car anywhere because you’re not moving. One time I heard someone say they were trying to open a bag of Twinkies and couldn’t get the bag open so they took that as a sign God didn’t want them to eat them. That’s kind of a silly example but do you ever think like that? When something doesn’t work out the way you expected do you think it must not have been God’s will? When you try at something and fail, do you assume it must not have been God that was leading you in the first place? We took the kids to the Kennedy space center and the Lord used it powerfully in my life. They show videos of all the launches that failed. Again and again the rockets exploded. Tons of money, time and valuable resources seemed to be wasted by rockets exploding on platforms or falling apart in the air. How easy it would be to give up. How easy it would be to give up thinking it must not be God if He allowed such failure. How in the world did the lie, “If it’s easy, it’s God and If there’s resistance it must not be God” sneak into our culture? Was it not God’s will that Jesus endure awful on the cross because it was hard and He had to persevere? Was it not God’s will that the Israelites be led out of captivity when they came up against the resistance of the Red Sea? Oh how we desperately need to grow in perseverance. I’m not so much talking about emotional, hard things perseverance b/c we all can point to many godly people who are persevering through hard hard times. But perseverance in the things we do. Oh we are so often so quick to give up when it’s hard. But really God will allow resistance, He will allow failure and that very much could be His plan for the purpose of driving us to get wisdom, to learn. Failure is a gift. It can drive us to get wisdom and learn how to do things better. And really Christians need to be leading the charge in the ability to persevere in the things we create, build, do etc. for the Lord. Because we have the Holy Spirit inside of us who enables us to persevere in doing great things for the Lord, a gift the world doesn’t have. Oh let us be persevering people who get wisdom and invest what we have well. And when we are in motion, in action, walking by faith, God is able to redirect us. But aren’t we so quick to cling to the “wait” verses of scripture than the “Go” verses… the take initiative verses. Did you know the word stay is used 62 times and the word go is used 1,052 times. Faith is an action. It’s an active trust. Faith is not passive, sitting back and waiting for things to fall in our lap. And when we think that is what faith is it is crippling our effectiveness, investments in heaven and ability to glorify God Look at plants. They need sun, water, soil and oxygen. We don’t have enough rain to keep even grass alive on their own. But that’s a law God put in place, putting effort in produces fruit. Taking initiative doesn’t equal a lack of faith. In 2 Samuel chapter 5 David (like he is so often) inquires of the Lord to see if and how he should attack other groups. He didn’t move until he heard specifically and directly from the Lord. That makes it seem like passivity, sitting and waiting until we have some special, specific call from the Lord to act seem like the right thing to do. It stumped me until I spend quite time asking the Lord to teach me about it. Guess what He showed me!? David didn’t have the Holy Spirit or the full Word of God! So of course He needed specific revelation from God because it was not already given. And guess what else He showed me. That the only time in the New Testament the disciples were told to wait (as in halt their activity) was when they were told to wait to receive the Holy Spirit. How beautifully amazing! Jesus had told the disciples to “GO”. And they did. And while they were going, if they were headed a wrong direction, the Lord redirected them. The minute we surrendered our life to Christ and received His forgiveness, we were sealed with/given the Holy Spirit and were given God’s specific call to “Go and make disciples of all nations”. You my dear friend already have a specific call. You don’t need to sit back and wait for some other mystical directions. You don’t need a feeling or dramatic almost audible voice from God. Your call has already been written down and it’s your responsibility to invest what you have and live out that mission, and when you’re headed the wrong direction, God will direct you. It is to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:19-20) About Laura Laura, the creator and host of Missional Women is married and has four kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 11 years serving with Master Plan Ministries. Laura is the Staff Women's Development Coordinator and has discipled over 150 girls, led over 30 Bible studies and speaks to college and women's groups. Laura has authored 5 books, including an award winning 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. You can find her on facebook,twitter, pinterest, youtube, instagram and her author site.
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