Blessing Comes Through Obedience

Sometimes it's tempting to think that you've failed when others don't respond to the message of the Gospel.

"God, I was just doing what you said. I seized the opportunity. I was bold. I laid out the Gospel. But they didn't care. I failed."

WRONG!

You seized the opportunity. You were bold. You laid out the Gospel.
That's all God asked you to do. Success!

You'd be a failure if God had told you to make your friend a Christian. Instead, He said to share what God has done for you. Make that distinction. After all, in Acts 1, what did Jesus say to His disciples before He ascended into heaven? Was it "Go and make Christians of everyone in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth?" NO! He said, "Be My witnesses." If they chose to reject the message (and many times, the messenger), that was their issue.

If you're reading through the Bible with us this year, earlier this week you read a verse that's easy to look over in Genesis 26. It's the end of verse 4 and all of verse 5. God, speaking to Isaac, says:

...in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

Did you catch it? "Abraham obeyed, so you get hooked up!"
Abraham was by no means perfect. He lied, he doubted, he tried to fulfill God's promise for a son through polygamy. However, the over-arching theme of his life was obedience and faith (Genesis 15:6).

When we obey, others get blessed.

Their response may not be what you wanted or expected, but God isn't focused on their response when He's commanded you to obey.

Not responsible

I heard some quotes the other day that I thought were great as we prepare to head out on this new adventure.

"When a man is his own ruler, he has all the responsibility of what he does -- but when he implicitly obeys Christ's command, he is not responsible for the result of his actions -- that rests with Him who gave the command."
~ Charles Spurgeon

Dr. Charles Stanley, while being interviewed recently about his wisdom from over 40 years of ministry on how to lay a godly foundation for a fledgling ministry, said, "Seek the Lord in prayer for guidance and direction. Don't force anything. Allow God to open and shut the doors of opportunity. Your part is simply to obey. If He has planted this idea in your heart and is behind what you're doing, He is obligated by his own character to see it through. Remember this: God is responsible for all the consequences of your obedience. You are responsible for all the consequences of your disobedience."

So true. I love the boldness and the peace that comes with stepping out in faith knowing that this is GOD'S idea, not mine. If it were my idea, who knows what would happen! Since it's His idea, success is guaranteed!