You want me to do what… I can’t! That was my reply, along with a very loud laugh, when the woman asked me to co-lead a study with her. I’d never done anything like that before! I had barely read the Bible! I had nothing to offer her.
But, she wasn’t speaking to the woman I knew, she was speaking to the woman God knew!
Yes, God meets us right where we are at and He speaks to the person we can’t see. I had nothing to offer this woman or God. I had no special biblical understanding, I’d never taught before, and my confidence level on a scale of 1 to 10 was a negative ten!
Yet, God was only asking for one thing – my obedience, and that I could offer.
In our book A Confident Heart, Renee speaks about the woman at the well, and she says that “He [Jesus] initiated a conversation and asked her for the one thing she had to offer: water.” [p.36]
God leaves nothing to chance, not only does he ask the woman for something she could offer, but He created the very thing He was asking her for! God creates opportunities to encounter us, provides what we need for that opportunity, and then speaks to the woman He sees.
My yes to that woman deepened my obedience to God. That act opened many more opportunities to encounter Him in bigger and more challenging ways. To which I never felt equipped or ready for.
When my husband was diagnosed with cancer, God asked for a measure of FAITH I did not think I possessed. However, He wasn’t speaking to what I thought I had, He was speaking to the Faith He saw. And out of obedience, I released my husband to God’s sovereign will during the most terrifying and uncertain time of our lives.
When we were $30k in debt and working multiple jobs to make ends meet, He asked me for TRUST at a level I was convinced I did not have. However, God knew the depth of my trust, and He spoke to that. So we honored Him in our finances when it never made sense to do so.
When our daughter was in dark depression and an abusive relationship. God asked for my HOPE at a degree which I did not believe existed within me. Yet, He spoke to a place which only He knew of. And in obedience, I declared the promises and purposes of God for her life – even when I couldn’t see it.
It’s the release that makes room for the growth. When we obey, even when we can’t see, it makes room for what God sees.
My FAITH grew exponentially during that season my husband was sick. I offered what faith I had, and it grew as God met our every need and healed my husband.
My TRUST enlarged when tithing placed us in the red. I offered the trust I had only to see it grow as God strategically walked us out of $30k of debt.
My HOPE expanded even when I couldn’t see the truth about my daughter. I offered what little hope I had, and now I can see her destiny unfolding.
God will never ask of you what He hasn’t already equipped you with! And when He’s asking for your obedience, it’s only so He can give you more of what He’s already given!
NOW YOUR TURN: Is God asking something of you that you don’t feel you’re equipped to handle? What is He asking you to release to Him? Let’s chat…
I have been feeling that tug on my heart to finish some writing I have done over the years in a devotional format but just catching myself being afraid to finish.
I also know God wants me to just trust him in the area of my marriage. we have only been married for 2 years he has been widowed twice and I was single until we got married I was 51. he is used to very passive wives and I am extremely independent. he is 12 years older and set in his ways.we are both working hard to make this marriage work, and presently live separately for a season. God says to trust but so days I just can’t see how and other days I easily how.
And lastly, God is calling me to draw closer to Himself but as I do I can clearly see walls surrounding my.hurt. walls built out of hurt rejection and fear and somedays as I face those walls there is such a bottomless darkness that I actually can sometimes feel mysely being pulled into and time sometimes lots oftime goes by without my full awareness
Gina,
Thank you for the comment. In the uncertainty of obedience you will find a crazy confidence of peace! Go for it! Step out and trust God in the areas you feel Him tugging on your heart for!
Blessings!
Beth