the beauty of obedience
one of the greatest gifts that Jesus ever gave us was a command
The trouble is that you have made the call optional, when really, the call is a call to obey, not a call to consider. When you consider the Lord’s call, you inadvertently surrender the power to obey, you surrender efficacy. Do you imagine that the Lord would command you without giving you the power to do what he has commanded? Do you not know that the command comes with power?
When you obey, his power rests upon you. For the call was not sent without the provision needed to accomplish the command.
Do you imagine the Lord is asking you to abstain from sexual immorality? Do you suppose he is asking rather than commanding? When you strip his command of authority, you rob yourself of the power that enables you to obey. The Lord has commanded me to abstain from sexual immorality. To this command, I say “Yes Lord”. My yes is a receipt of power.
“If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
James 1:5-8 NRSV
He that doubts as James says shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. He that doubts the command cannot receive anything from the Lord. It is wonderful news that the Lord commands rather than asks.
The same Moses that was tasked with doing signs and wonders could not do the simpler task of speaking. When we say yes to the Lord, our members are imbued with his power, such that they become his for use. It is most dire when we have learned to say yes to everyone but the Lord.
“Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.””
Exodus 4:12 NRSV
The call of the Lord is never a thing to be considered, but always obeyed. Your consideration is the source of your impotence. Your thoughts on the matter are an insult to the command. You cannot do it because you are thinking about it.
What if you’re unsure whether the Lord has commanded it? There is no uncertainty when the Lord commands, there is only uncertainty of oneself. Because the call is coming from God, it is always impossible for the man. It is as impossible as abstaining from sexual immorality. I have spent so much time questioning the command because of its impossibility. “It must not be for me because it doesn’t come naturally to me, but others do it so effortlessly”. “Is God really asking this of me?” Aaron was always an option when he asked Moses to speak on his behalf. Why didn’t God just start off with Aaron? Why didn’t he start with the more capable brother?
God asks you to do what he has already done, not what he is going to do. The moment he commands it, it is done.
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11
The evidence that the Lord has commanded a thing isn’t your ease in accomplishing it. The difficulty of the task might actually suggest that it is the Lord who asks.
If the Lord only asked us what was easy for us then he would’ve asked Aaron to speak for him initially. But his power is made perfect in our weakness. The older more talented and equipped brother was the second option.
Will you give the Lord your yes?