30 Things in 30 Days-Day 21

I like it when things make sense. I'm generally not a big risk taker. I like to be creative, but I like having a plan. Change is scary for me. As I approach 40, one of the things I'm trying to achieve is to step out a little bit. There have been a few times in my life when I have needed to step out in faith and try something new, or quit my job, or move to a new town. And although my brain and my 'common sense' may say that I need to play it safe, I went ahead and jumped anyway because I believed that God was leading me down a new path. You know, some of those times were the best decisions of my life. I don't know why I don't 'jump' more often. I'm working on that this month. I'm planning a few more things that will help me be stronger in this area.
I've been trying to be more deliberate about what I read during this 30 day adventure. I thought I would share something that I read the other day that came at the perfect time. It's by a guy named Oswald Chambers who died almost 100 years ago. It's amazing that someone who lived so long ago could say something that would influence me in such a profound way. The language sounds a bit old fashioned, but I hope it says something to you too.

Lord, I will follow You, but . . . —Luke 9:61

Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”

Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.

By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.