“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 28)
Recently, I’ve become quite the fan of Francine Rivers, the author of many incredible books, including one of my all-time-favorites, “Redeeming Love”. I’m reading a book series of hers titled “Lineage of Grace” – which highlights women of the Bible who were uniquely used by God because of their decision to be RADICALLY OBEDIENT.
The Bible is filled with stories of people who chose radical obedience – and as Christians, we applaud them for their efforts and determination to follow hard after God. But I want to raise this question – is the only reason we rejoice with them because we have already seen the end result?
Imagine a soldier approaching you with a battle strategy: “Hey guys. God told me I’m just supposed to walk around the wall of the city.”
Today we look at the Israelites who conquered the city of Jericho (as told in Joshua 6) and say – Oh what great faith! God used them so mightily! – but if this were to happen in a time like today, would we be the ones supporting them to press forward in faith or would we join the voice of the enemy and burden them with discouragement?
I’m sure the majority of responses would sound a lot like this:
“That makes no sense”
“How is walking going to help you conquer the city?”
“…and what’s your Plan B?”
We have become a people who prize our logic and intellect more than our faith.
If the Israelites came up with a more “logical” battle strategy, armed with their strongest warriors and weapons, I’m sure more people would be on board with that plan. We like things that make sense to our finite minds – but God likes to show up and show off in what seems like an impossible situation.
We know how this story ends – the Israelites walk around the city for six days, shouted on the seventh, and the wall came down.
I just love how God operates. I love His voice, and I’ve come to really appreciate His way of doing things.
God told Abraham “Go to a land I will show you”. He told Noah to build a huge boat. Jesus fed thousands of people with a five loaves of bread and two fish. He told Peter to walk on water.
His ways aren’t exactly logical. In fact, one could argue that His ways are borderline crazy.
“What’s next?” – that question has been looming over my head pretty much since Month 1. As the months progressed, squadmates began to share their plans of grad school, job opportunities as teachers/pastors/coaches, and some have even been accepted to squad-lead for future World Racers.
For months, I had no idea what that would look like. To be quite honest, it scared the mess out of me. I gave up everything to come on the Race. I gave up everything to follow God. I was starting to see the plan He has for everyone else, but what does He have for me?
This past Thursday, I was sitting in a little coffee shop in Siem Reap, Cambodia and out of nowhere, He told me. Tears rolled down my face in the middle of the coffee shop, and I just knew He was speaking to me. I knew He was telling me the next step.
And it starts soon.
SO SOON.
And it doesn’t make sense.
(Sorry for the major cliffhanger. Further details will be disclosed at another time)
Following God makes sense – He has ALWAYS been faithful, He always WILL be faithful. He’s proven it time and time again. HE’S NEVER FAILED. It makes sense to respond to Him in radical obedience. But what if what He’s asking of you doesn’t make sense? What then?
The answer is simple: Obey anyway. Have faith, and do the thing. No matter how crazy it sounds.
He’ll be faithful. You be obedient.
“No one who hopes in You will ever be put to shame…” Psalm 25:3
