Obeying God

Peter, by trade, was a professional fisherman. He knew how to read the weather conditions, where to find the largest schools of fish, and when to call it a nonproductive night and pull in the nets and anchor and simply head home. Because of his expertise, he may very well have silently questioned the reasonableness of Jesus' instructions. I know I would have. Why let down the nets when an experienced team of fishermen hadn't been able to catch anything all night?

Sometimes our heavenly Father asks us to do what appears to be unreasonable acts. His request might involve your job or ministry that He had only recently provided, or taking on activities that will be heavy to your all-ready filled schedule, leaving you feeling overloaded, or he might want you to accept an assignment that someone else seems much more suited to assign. Perhaps God's plan makes no sense in view of your age, financial situation, or health conditions. Yet, because of the One who asks, it will be the absolutely right thing to do. Sometimes we have to choose between doing something that makes sense to us by our human standards or choosing to obey God in what may appear as pure nonsense to us.

The Bible tells us about many different people who had to make many serious decisions and choices of this kind. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own son, Isaac. Noah was instructed to build a huge ark on dry ground (when it had never even rained before) because a "flood" was coming. Joshua was given a military strategy of marching around Jericho instead of attacking it front on (Josh 6:2-5). And Gideon, who was the least experienced fighter of them all, was told to send most of his warriors home before the battle even began (Judges 7:2-3). They all obeyed God and experienced the full brunt of His power released on their behalf.

We can't let human logic dictate whether or not we're going to follow God's plan. We must trust the Lord as Peter and these other faithful believers did. And this means trusting God even when the answers to our questions don't make sense to us. God longs to show us that he can be counted on and trusted to do the right thing. We stand around holding onto our unbelief when God is whispering, "Have faith in me." We must relinquish our grip and lean on the Lord. Obedience is rarely easy but it's always necessary.

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Here it is Monday. Another week. They seem to go by so fast anymore. I got two books in Friday's mail and I've finished one and have a good start on the other one. I didn't have as much time for reading as I would have liked. I went to the doctor Saturday afternoon for the problem with my head. Or more accurately my scalp. I was told I had had an allergic reaction to a hair care product (don't know which one) and then the reaction got "horribly" infected. She started me on antibiotics immediately. Whether or not I will have any hair left by the time this resolves itself is anybody's guess. But the pain is much less intense. It still itches like crazy and feels like I have a child-sized swimming cap glued to my head. I washed it this morning with Selsun Blue as instructed (and now I know why it's called Selsun "Blue") and it just feels so tight up there. Maybe the shampoo will help reduce the itching. All I do is scratch open sores in my scalp. This is, by far I think, the weirdest thing I've ever had happen to me. Of course there was the time that the whole side of M's face swelled up and turned bright red and he was diagnosed with an "infected face" and put on antibiotics. I still don't see how a face can get infected. A cut on the face or an abrasion on the cheek, yes. But just to have your face up and get infected for no reason? Weird. Very weird.

It was downright cold this morning when I went out for my Quiet Time on the deck. I pulled on a pair of sweats and M's hoodie and headed out, brave soul that I am. I had a great time. I read my chapter of Proverbs for the day and then my two Psalms. Then I went to my devotionals. I now have three devotionals in the morning, the ones by Max Lucado and Andrew Murray that I've been using for the past month and I added the one I bought on Saturday at the Christian book store when I drove in to town for my doctor appointment: Streams in the Desert. It is an exceptional devotional. I know I have an old copy of that book somewhere but I couldn't seem to find it and I believe I've looked everywhere there is to look so I broke down and bought another copy. This one is an updated edition in today's language edited by Jim Reimann, the same editor of my updated devotional by Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Reimann stays pretty much true to the original text but puts it in our everyday language. But for the record, I do read Chambers' original release too for balance.

I also bought a couple other books while I was there. I spent the rest of my share of President Bush's stimulus money. I bought Beth Moore's study on King David, A Heart Like His. She had done such a good job with her study of the Apostle Paul that I didn't have to think long to make up my mind to purchase the new one. And I also bought Secrets to Spiritual Power by Watchman Nee and complied by Sentinel Kulp. If you have never read any of Watchman Nee's books, it's something you need to put on your To-Do list. I have read The Normal Christian Life at least three times and am wanting to read it again. I've also read several other books by Nee but The Normal Christian Life is my favorite.

I just finished Created to be His Help Meet, by Debi Pearl. I have issues with an awful lot of the book but there were a few chapters there in the middle of her book that were so right on that I had a difficult time containing myself. I just didn't like the first few chapters and the last few chapters. The middle of the book was very good and I will reread it over and over to remind myself of what my God-given role in life really is. I was created to serve. Jesus said it is better to serve. So to that end I continue to relate to others and to my husband and hope that they and he will respond in like manner. I am currently well into one of Billy Graham's books that I got free and in Friday's mail. So I have lots and lots of reading to do. I am still rereading Weirsby's book on Romans. I forgot about it for about a week but I am back at it this week.

I also went by the Thrift store while I was in town Saturday and found six dresses that I liked but all six of them did not fit. I am so much bigger than my eyes and brain say I am. I quit smoking a year and a half ago and paid for it dearly by packing on 40 pounds! I'm hoping to lose it sometime when God says it's the right time. It was discouraging to realize that I can no longer fit into the dresses I used to be able to wear but I'd rather be overweight than be a smoker. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and as such I have no right to pollute it with toxins and wastes. Why it took me twenty years to come to that realization I'll never know except to say that in my flesh I am pretty good at explaining things away. The Bible doesn't say "Thou shalt not smoke" so it was easy to fool myself into thinking it didn't really matter. It does matter and I am thrilled that God finally empowered me to stop that filthy habit. I still miss it though and probably always will. Smoking becomes such a part of the smoker. It really is an extension of yourself. But all my life I have been skinny and my brain just can't adjust to the fact that I've put on a "few" pounds. M is going through old photographs copying them into his computer and I'm always so skinny in the pictures he shows me. Oh well, I'm also 61 years old so when am I going to cut myself some slack?

My son and daughter-in-law just stopped by for awhile. They had brought a DVD over to show us but we had watched it yesterday when our grandson brought it over. The DVD is a record of my grandson's jump from an airplane! I can't believe he actually jumped out of an airplane. I mean, good grief, this is my little boy, the baby of the family. But the little boy is all grown up. I told him yesterday it must feel great to be 18 now and not have to secure his mom and dad's permission to skydive. He just smiled. What a great kid he is!! Anyway it sort of spoiled my son's fun with us having already seen the DVD but we told him we could only get the visuals on the DVD, not the sound. So my son fixed the problem (something was plugged into the wrong hole in the back of the player or the TV or both)! No wonder we haven't been able to get sound whenever we tried to watch a movie. We just naturally thought WE were the problem. We never thought that John might have not put it back the right way the last time he played around with all our wires. He's usually so good to get things hooked back up the right way. So anyway, now we can use our player with sound! And we can watch that Denzel Washington movie we bought a few months ago and never got to watch. My son also fixed M's computer. I didn't know there was anything wrong with the computer but I guess M was having problems with it. My son is our computer tech support. He can do anything with a computer, and I'm not just bragging.

I have decided not to go out to get the mail today. I'll save the gas and go out Wednesday. It's not like we're expecting to get anything. Even all our bills have come in and have been dealt with so there's no hurry to pick up ads and fliers. And I don't have any other needs to go out for. My trip in to see the doctor Saturday used up any gas I had to spare.

It's getting late so I think I'll let this be it for today. I know it's not much of a blog. That I can find anything at all to write about in our secluded and sheltered lives amazes me! The weather has been nice the last two days. Unseasonably cold in the mornings but staying in the mid to high 90s during the day. I wish it were this way all the time. Earlier this month we had a day that reached 116 degrees! Now that was uncomfortable!