June 22, 2009
Do It
“But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Matthew 17:27 (NIV)
Devotion:
Sometimes God asks us to do something we don’t understand. It might seem unnecessary. It might seem crazy. Or it might seem like something God shouldn’t need us to do because He is capable of doing it without our involvement. So why does He require our action?
When Jesus was asked to pay a tax, He told Peter to go catch a fish. Miraculously, the exact amount He needed was found in the mouth of the fish he caught. Peter had a moment where he had to either accept Jesus’ methods or question them. In our limited human understanding it’s easier to question, “Why didn’t He just make that coin appear?” But Peter knew Jesus, and he knew he was better off to just do whatever Jesus had asked of him (Matthew 17:24-27).
Sometimes we have moments like Peter had. We stand there blinking, wondering if we heard Him right. In those moments we have to make a decision to just DO IT:
Deliberate
Obedience
Intentional
Trust
Certainly Jesus could have produced the amount needed in many different ways, but He required Peter to be involved. He required Peter to take action, just as He does with us at times.
When God showed my husband and I that we needed to begin tithing when what we wanted was to get out of debt, it didn’t make sense to us at all. We had to simply respond with deliberate obedience and intentional trust.
When God challenged me to stick with my marriage when it seemed over, I wondered if He realized what He was asking. He wanted me to deliberately obey Him and intentionally trust Him. He didn’t want me to look for the easy button. He wasn’t offering a supernatural rescue. He needed me to walk through the process, learning lessons along the way. Instead of handing me a solution, He allowed me to be involved in it.
Is there something He is asking you to do that doesn’t seem right, or normal, or natural from your human perspective? Are you ignoring His still small voice urging you to just trust and obey? Whether it’s catching a fish or building an ark, you can rest assured that you are in good company. God has a plan—even when you can’t see it. Sometimes you have to DO IT to reveal that plan.
Dear Lord, I want to learn to respond with obedience to Your requests. When I hear Your voice speaking to me, I want to willingly do it—whatever “it” is. Thank You for reminding me that sometimes You require me to be part of my own solution. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Join us for more Everyday Life encouragement
Learning To Live Financially Free by Marybeth and Curt Whalen
The Power of Prayer to Change Your Marriage by Stormie Omartian
For more from Marybeth, visit her blog as well as her resource page.
Application Steps:
In your journal, write about a time when God asked you to do something you thought wasn’t necessary or was crazy. What was the result?
Reflections:
What is God asking you to do? How will deliberate obedience and intentional trust figure into your response?
Power Verses:
Ephesians 5:15, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (NIV)
© 2009 by Marybeth Whalen. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
Originally published Monday, 22 June 2009.
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