When God Says "Go"

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”

1 Samuel 16:1

 

When God tells us to "Go" what is our first reaction?  "Go where?" "But that's not where I want to go."  "What am I to do when I get there?"   You see, when God tells us to "Go" we tend to complicate the matter with lots of questions, excuses why we can't go, arguments about why someone else can't go in our place.  And do you know what all our arguments are called?  Faithless!

 

Let me be blunt...When God tells us to "Go" then we can be certain that He already has everything all worked out for us.  We can rest in the knowledge that God has had this plan in place since before time, and He has been preparing us for just this moment.  

 

When I was younger, I was so afraid that God was going to call me to go to some jungle village in the middle of who knows where to try to tell them about God's love.  But what God actually called me to do was even more challenging.  God called me to love.  That's right!  While that sounds simple, have you seen some of the people out there?  The first thing God had to get through my thick skull is this: "You can only love to the degree we have been loved.  And love begins by allowing yourself to BE loved."  God has taught me to love because HE loves me completely, warts and all!  Because of God's love for me, I have been able to love others.

 

When God says "Go" then don't hesitate..."Here I am. Send me" (Isaiah 6:8)

Are You Ready To Go?

"God doesn't require us to succeed; He only requires that we try."

Mother Teresa

If you knew God told you to GO and do something, would you be ready?  Let's say you had a coworker who was having a tough day, and you sensed God telling you to GO and try to encourage them, would you be ready?

I've talked with more people that I can count who said they "just couldn't" tell God they would go where He told them to go.  Why?  Because they were afraid God would send them to some disease ridden swamp where there would be no "civilized comforts."  How sad!  Will God tell you to GO where you might have to do without some creature comforts?  Perhaps.

Remember Moses?  God told him to GO and tell Pharoah to let His people go.  Did Moses say "Got it!  Let's GO!"?  Nope!  Moses started making excuses.  And here's where God showed His patience because every excuse Moses raised, God provided a solution.

Now let's take a look at Acts 8:26-40 where we find Philip.  God sent an angel to Philip to tell him to GO to a road in the South.  Philip went without question.  While he was there, a carriage came by with a minister of the Ethiopian Queen riding in it. The minister was reading from Isaiah.  God's Spirit told Philip to go to the carriage.  Without question, Philip went and offered to explain to the minister what Isaiah was saying.  As a result of their discussion, the minister asked Philip to baptize him.

Now here's another example....my own.  I've stated before that I knew God had called me to ministry of some sort when I was seven years old.  I also have stated that I ran from that calling for DECADES.  God was patient and used every single experience of my running to guide me back to where He needed me.  God brought me to the Sheriff's Department to minister.  This is the best place in the world for me to be, because God has shown me that this is where He told me to GO all along.  In the words of JRR Tolkein: "Not all who wander are lost."  I spend a long time wandering, thinking I had lost God's desire to use me, and God was guiding every step I made.

When God says "GO" He already has a plan in place with all the details worked out.  And He has been preparing you for this mission since before you were born.