“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew 4:19-20 ESV
By Autumn Nims, President of IWM
I was sitting in a ministry conference workshop and the Lord spoke.
He told me to get up in the middle of this workshop and go and pray for the workshop leader.
I began to question what the Lord was asking me to do. Why would I interrupt the workshop? There was no real reason to go up and pray for this woman. This can’t be what God is asking me to do! After all, there were more than 100 people listening and learning in this large conference setting, I told myself.
As I was questioning the Holy Spirit, a very tall man, a gentle man, came walking down the aisle past me. He went straight up to the podium and told the woman God told him to pray for her.
I was stunned, humbled and disappointed in myself. I knew in that moment I had missed the call. I had failed. I came up short. I buried my face in my hands and cried and repented. It was a hard lesson. One that I will never forget. There are three things I learned that day . . .
I hesitated . . .
If I hadn’t hesitated, God would not have replaced me with someone else. Don’t let someone else take your place! I recalled how the disciples dropped everything to follow Jesus. This is a lesson to us all. Sacrificial servanthood can require leaving the familiar to do the supernatural. I don’t know what the Holy Spirit was up to that day, but I missed out.
I cared what others thought . . .
God will ask you to do things that don’t make sense sometimes. Obey Him anyway. Don’t miss out on what God is doing. When God is at work we should immediately respond to his nudge to get involved. We must hasten to obey His leading.
“I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.”
Psalm 119:60 ESV
God will get His work done with or without you . . .
Being out of God’s will is a painful, miserable and purposeless place to be.
He will call you to do things out of your comfort zone because He is stretching you and preparing you. He desires to use you for his glory but you must obey His voice when He calls.
Don’t let someone else take your place! Answer His call without hesitation.
