Since I have dedicated my life to fulfilling God’s purpose, one of the most difficult things I have had to accept has come through the process of maturity and obedience. That is acknowledging the fact that He is not going to reveal His plan for my life in an A to Z scripted, detailed manual of operation. It is my nature to navigate life according to a well thought out and strategic plan. I am a firm proponent of the cliché “failing to plan, means that you’re planning to fail”. Failing and quitting was something my family never tolerated. So, I was raised to plan, organize, follow protocol, and become a master of structure. While this is good information, and fosters a foundation for success, with God it doesn’t always unfold according to that particular prescription for accomplishment.

I vividly recall when God commissioned my husband to start our church. After much trepidation, we both accepted the call. But that didn’t come without a ton of questions – I used the word “ton” because they weren’t just casual questions, they were weighty, heavy questions. We needed solid answers. But God being God, He is under no obligation to operate on our time schedule nor according to our perceived plan. He has His own plan that was predestined for each of us even before the time of our conception! So, as my husband began to tune His ear and his heart close to God, He was expecting as many details as we had questions.

The answer we got was this . . . “Start now”. Talk about a letdown!! But we decided to hold on because we just knew further instruction was soon to come. He assured us that He would be with us because of our obedience but for the most part what happened next was the waiting game. God was waiting to see when and if we would obey His directive, and we were waiting to hear more. Well, thanks be to God we had sense enough to “start”, even though we were shaking in our boots — literally too, because it was December of 2005!

Abram had a very similar experience with God as told in Genesis 12: 1 – 3. God simply and clearly told Abram to LEAVE! Leave what? Leave your country, your people, your father’s house, and go to a land I will show you! Can you imagine what was going through Abram’s mind when He heard this. In that same passage God made promises to Abram for what He would do to bless Him for His obedience. Talk about faith and trust in the Lord, that kind of commission takes it to an unparalleled level. God never tells us to do something without a reason and promises that will benefit us for our obedience.

God may not have spelled our (my husband and I) promises out to the extent that He did for Abram, but He promised that if we were obedient, He would grant the desires of our hearts and He would anoint everything our hands endeavored to do within His will for His people! Taking that first step can be very frightening because you really are stepping into the unknown. But just because you don’t know the outcome, doesn’t mean God is clueless. He knows the purpose, the plan, and the ultimate outcome. I thank God for growth because I have reached a point in my life where I not only am able to trust Him for that first step, I trust Him for the giant leap!

“If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.” Job 36: 11 (NIV)

Source: First Lady Denise