Be Bothered

When is the last time you felt challenged?

Let me clarify. I don’t mean in a game of Candyland with your kids. I don’t mean to a Westside Story dance-off. I mean a good, old-fashioned, challenge that moves you out of your comfort zone and into unknown territory.

I loathe the unknown. I want to know what is going on, every step of the way. I want a road map and I want listed directions. I want pictures of the destination. Too bad, so sad. I don’t always get that much clarity.

Moses didn’t know when or how the people would be delivered from Egypt. He took individual instructions from the Lord, one step at a time. He walked in faith and obedience. When it did not seem to produce tangible results and Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, Moses turned back to the Lord with questions, cries, and desperation.   

When the Lord places a call on our life, big or small, we must choose to take action. The first steps are always the scariest. We might mishear, we may misstep, and we could look ridiculous. 

Sitting around aimlessly, no goals in sight, leads to a life of complacency and spiritual drought. Complacency does not require faith. Pleading with the Lord to rend the heavens and come down, takes faith. 

I am in the midst of my own Exodus right now. I am asking for wisdom to put one foot in front of the other, in a series of steps that will lead me in the direction of a lifetime of faithfulness. It’s unknown and it’s scary. And so far, it’s awesome. 

It is awesome and it’s foreign. This land looks vastly different than my previous dwelling place of indifference. I feel more alive to the spirit’s work in my heart. I feel more sensitive to the needs of others. I feel more compelled to obedience. 

If you are in a season of complacency and you look around your life and see no need for faith, my prayer is that you might NOT be at peace. Be bothered! Take your temperature. Find your pulse. Is everything in you yearning to live a life fully devoted to Christ? 

If you aren’t, do something about it. 

• Confess your indifference. Ask the Lord to replace it with a renewed passion.
• Ask the Lord to give you tangible ways to pursue him.
• Commit to take small, personal steps of faith, right now. (Not tomorrow, not next year, today.) 
• Get off your rear, and obey. Not out of guilt or condemnation, but out of joy and excitement over what the Lord has set before you. 
• Get excited. The Lord is building your story of faith. 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.” - Hebrews 11:1-2

*I would love the chance to pray for you as you take individual steps of faith towards Christ. Feel free to comment below and let me know how I can pray for you! Also, be sure to subscribe on the side to get blogs sent directly to your email.