Oswald Chambers made three incredible, eye-opening points today in My Utmost for His Highest.
Point 1: “He Comes Where He Commands Us to Leave.“
“When Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.” {Matthew 11:1}
“If when God said ‘Go,’ you stayed, because you were so concerned about your people at home, you robbed them of the teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach; as long as you would not obey, you were in the way. Watch where you begin to debate and to put what you call duty in competition with your Lord’s commands. ‘I know God told me to go, but then my duty was here’; that means you do not believe that Jesus means what He says.”
Point 2: “He Teaches Where He Instructs Us Not To“
“Master…let us make three tabernacles.”
“Are we playing the spiritual amateur providence in others lives? Are we so noisy in our instruction of others that God cannot get anywhere near them? We have to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert. God wants to instruct us in regard to His Son, He wants to turn our times of prayer into mounts of transfiguration, and we will not let Him. When we are certain of the way God is going to work, He will never work in that way any more.“
Point 3: “He Works Where He Sends Us to Wait“
“Tarry ye…until…”
“Wait on God and He will work, but…don’t wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our own spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told.” {My Utmost…some emphasis mine}
Ouch.
He tells you to leave…so He can step in.
He tells you to hush…so He can do the talking.
He tells you to wait patiently…and yet you sulk because you can’t see what He’s doing.
Sometimes we mature {cough, cough} adults act like a group of pouty, spoiled kids. We refuse to obey, we stomp our spiritual feet, and then end up completely blocking the path God is using to get to us. {Silly stubborn people.}
Makes me wonder…am I walking down the path He’s designed for me or…am I just ‘in the way’?
{gulp.}
{Image courtesy of Flickr}
