An Act of Obedience

"God beckons the storm clouds and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, 'You go there', and He says to the seas, 'You stop here', and they do it. Everything in creation responds in obedience to the Creator.....until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the fact and say, "No."

~~David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Today I've felt pretty overwhelmed by God's blessings. What have we done to deserve His outpouring of grace on our lives? It's beautiful and humbling and extravagant in that, we do not deserve it. We are broken, failing, pieces of humanity, who constantly fail to live up to what God requires. Yet he uses us. So I asked myself today: why?

And in this very clear, very candid way I knew the answer already. Because we are being obedient.

You see, this adoption dream was not borne of my own need for more to do, to decrease social injustice, or to impact our world. We didn't decide to adopt just to expand our family, because I was bored or because of some sense of responsibility or guilt after going to Haiti. It was our response to His call. Simple as that. He squeezed our hearts, and we said "ok."

I wonder how much easier everyday life would be if we listened in every aspect of our lives like we've obeyed in this one. How many heartaches could be avoided? How many disappointments foregone? How many broken roads detoured? Could He want to be involved in our choices daily? Does He have something to say about our jobs? Our choice of friends? What about our education? Does He care about our words? Our actions? Our thoughts? What choices can we make without His approval?

You see, we are both by nature fiercely independent. Jason is more analytical and controlling of situations, I'm more laid back and intuitive to them. We formulate a plan, we examine every angle, and as our Pastor preached on Sunday, we then ask God to bless it and for His help. Just like He has to bless a plan that isn't His at all. Just like He's waiting to fulfill all my wants and desires. WRONG. That is where we go so terribly wrong. The point of this life it to point to Him. He is in control. And if we want to live in the grace that He so freely pours out in response to obedience, we must not only heed, but seek His will first.

Through this adoption and through every facet of our lives, the rest of the world should see the beauty and grace of Christ. If they cannot see it~ if it is dimmed by my bad attitude, by my sense of self importance or worth, then I am failing. And I don't want to fail.

Thank you Lord Jesus for blessing us. I know we do not deserve it. But we thank you for it anyway. Amen.