If God Asks, Will You Go?

Beloved,

As I got up this morning and starting thinking about all of the things I have on my schedule, things I want to accomplish, things I need to do, I also stepped back to think about one thing in particular. What am I doing that God has asked me to do? Am I doing what I want to do or am I doing what God wants me to do? And, if God asks me to do something, will I do it?

Now, you may say, "WHAT, the Pastor has those kinds of questions going on in his mind?" Yes, I do.

I am as saved, sanctified, Holy Ghost-filled, and fire baptized as anyone else and I still have questions about my life. It is how God created us.

We are supposed to question things. We are supposed to think about things. We are supposed to make decisions among many choices, praying for wisdom to discern between temptations and opportunities, and faithfully do our best to allow the will of God to be made manifest in our lives.

That is a long way of saying, we should strive to obey God.

Now, when I use the word strive, I use it with the understanding that, to me, it means struggling to thrive. We have a battle in our spirits that never seems to end, come on be honest. We have a battle in our hearts that never seems to end, come on be honest. And, we have a battle in our minds that never seems to end, come on be honest.

How do I know? I know by what I say and what I do. And, I know by what you say and what you do.

When we are confronted with our sinful nature, we can try to pretty it up, cover it up, act like it never comes up. We can lie to others. We can lie to ourselves. And, we can lie to God; BUT, you cannot really lie to God because God always knows the truth.

God has made provision for our sins and our sinful nature through Jesus Christ. So, God has made it possible for you to always be available to God.

So, if God asks, will you go?

The prophet Isaiah was confronted with this situation in Isaiah 6 when he had a vision. He saw his sinful nature as making him far from being usable by God. He also saw the sinfulness of his people that kept them far from God. And, he thought this sin would not only separate him from God but would also cause him to die.

God provided a means for cleaning him up and making him fit to be in God's presence. In a sense, God saved him just as God saved us through Jesus Christ.

After saving Isaiah, God asked in Isaiah 6:8, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Now, beloved, God had just saved Isaiah. Gratitude for this incredible act of grace would seem to make sense. But, as my great-grandmother used to say, "If common sense was common, more people would have it."

So, what would have seemed like an easy decision was actually one of two choices, temptation or opportunity.

The temptation was for Isaiah to take God's grace, run off, and do his own thing.

We can be like that sometimes. We are saved by grace and often live more worldly than those in the world.

Or, Isaiah could take advantage of the opportunity to make himself available to serve the God who had saved him.

We should be like that all the time. We are saved by grace and should live like we are going to live again.

Isaiah responded in Isaiah 6:9, "Here am I; send me!"

I love the exclamation point illustrating that Isaiah was boldly, confidently, assuredly making an affirmative statement about his relationship with God.

Since God had saved him from a sure death, he was surely going to live his life for God.

Beloved, everyday and in everyway, we are making a statement to God and the world.

Everyday, God asks you if God can send you. How do you answer?

If God asks, will you go?

And, understand, I am not speaking of your volunteer time that you manipulate and control. I am speaking of your whole life. Are you available to God whenever God decides to send you, wherever God decides to send you, to whomever God decides to send you?

How you answer speaks volumes about your relationship with God.

We will be working on our relationship with God at Noonday prayer today. Are you available?

We will be listening to our sermon on The Light radio station and internet at 3pm. Are you available?

We will be gathering for our next lesson in the life of Joseph at HOPE Wednesday at 6:30pm. Are you available?

How many "Yes" responses will you give? Your "Yes" responses speak volumes about your relationship with God.

How many "No" responses will you give? Your "No" responses speak volumes about your relationship with God.

Let us make ourselves available to God.

And, remember, God loves you and I love you too!

Be blessed,

Rev. Cain