“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine’” (Isaiah 55:8, NLT).

There are so many stories in the Bible of people of great faith, who, in doing what God wanted them to do, opened themselves up to ridicule, gossip, and even being shunned from their friends and families.

Think of Noah. Here’s a guy building a massive boat in his back yard just because God told him to. A LOT of people said he was crazy. Next thing you know, Noah is floating off into the sunset leaving a lot of very confused people treading water.

God told the runt of the family that he was going to be a mighty warrior, but nobody thought Gideon could do the job. The next thing you know, Gideon had overrun a massive enemy with only 300 men – moved by the power of God.

Abraham left the good life behind, uprooted himself from kith and kin, and moved over a thousand miles because God told him to. The move didn’t make sense to those he left behind, even to some of those that moved with him. But once in the land of Canaan, God promised Abraham that his lineage would produce a kingdom that would never end – the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.

God still tells us to move today. He still has wonderful plans in which He wants to involve us. But there are two problems that we have in being able to move like Noah, Gideon, or Abraham…

(1) We don’t want to be made fun of. We don’t want people to think we’re crazy or fanatic. We put on the brakes before we even start and, in the process, say “NO” to obeying God and “YES” to being content with the status quo.

(2) We don’t know HOW TO LISTEN to God in order to hear His will. We’re too busy. We’re too focused on our own concerns. We fail to make ourselves available to God and the unique tasks that He has created to perfectly match the gifts and talents with which He has blessed us.

The bottom line: FEAR holds us back and COMPLACENCY prevents us from KNOWING GOD. But if we study His Word, say our prayers, and diligently ASK Him what it is that He wants us to, then HE WILL TELL US WHAT TO DO and we will KNOW HIS WILL.

The Bible is full of people just like us. Afraid of what people might say, what people might do, afraid to risk the status quo. But then, along came JESUS to make us unafraid! Amazing things happen when we risk it all for the glory of God!

David McCall

Executive Pastor