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Topic: TRUST (07/21/16)
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TITLE: Accepting the Offer | Previous Challenge Entry
By Teresa Odden
07/27/16 -
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My father taught me to “bank” sick days and never call in sick when I wasn’t. “If an emergency occurs you will be rewarded for doing what was right,” he said.
Six years after I began working for a large philanthropic organization, my mother was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. By this time I had built up a reputation that I was reliable and would get the work done.
I submitted a plan for family leave and human resources not only approved time off with full pay, I was told, “take whatever time off you need.” During a very challenging time in my life, years of consistently trying to do what I said I would do is what opened the way for me to compartmentalize my work from my pain.
One morning reading my Bible, spending precious time in conversation with God, He revealed from scripture a theme that had been emerging over several months. Numerous verses stood out stating, “God said, God instructed, God commanded,” and “they did just like the Lord had said.”
God challenged me when I read another passage stating the same, found in I Samuel 28:16-20. The prophet Samuel told Saul the reason the Lord had left him was because he did not do what the Lord had instructed him to do, (New Living Translation, NLT). Saul did not trust God enough to wait and do what God asked, and the results were devastating.
I realized my Heavenly Father is the one person to whom I trust the most and sadly, is the one person who would find me the least trustworthy. My heart sank. I cannot fathom living and walking absent of the presence of God because I didn’t trust Him enough to do what He asked of me.
As God pierced the center of my heart and soul I had to ask, “do you find me trustworthy?” God didn’t have to say anything, because I already knew the answer. I had to admit I was not approaching His instructions to me with the same work ethic I did with my employer.
God’s message was very clear. It wasn’t about me depending on God’s grace to trust Him for my needs, it was about God being able to depend on me as He needs.
Too often a simple instruction from God has been dismissed with a “is it God, I’ll do it later,” or I simply ignore Him. I had to be honest with myself as much as I needed to be honest with God. Was I readily available to Him as I am to others? Can He trust me to see something through?
When I am in need to trust God for a situation or circumstance, so often I focus on verses that refer to the privilege God has given me to pray and ask for anything in the name of Jesus. This time it was different. The question God asked was not, “Do you trust me,” it was, “Can I trust you?”
God challenged me that I should strive to hear His instructions, accept His offer, and follow through to completion. The greatest challenge is not in accepting, but doing exactly as the Lord instructs. It is then I can receive His promise that when He finds me trustworthy over a few things He can put me in charge of many things. I can share in the “master’s pleasure,” (Matthew 25:19-23, J.P. Phillips Version).
Whether my task is given directly from God or through another, I have a responsibility to get it done. God wants to count on me the way others count on me. He wants to count on you!
I want a faith and trust in God that is confident and unwavering, but more importantly I do not want to violate God’s trust in me.
“…fully carry out the ministry God has given you,” (2 Timothy 4:5, NLT).
Reference:
www.biblegateway.com (retrieved July 25, 2016).
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