Do It Today
Do you ever find yourself putting off doing things that you know are important? You have determined in your heart that you will move forward with a life that will honor God and will fulfill His great plan for your life. But at the end of the day, you still have not made the strides that are necessary for you to move out of your comfort zone and into the place of empowerment. This is the place where we can experience God's best for our lives - His divine design for us. Each day, we wake up to another opportunity for us to embark on that journey that will lead us into our God-ordained destiny that we call our purpose. We know that God has a plan for us and that His plan is to prosper us and not harm us.
But in order to embark on the journey towards our destination, we need a plan. We need to have an assessment of where we are going and what will be required for us to get there. We are told in Luke's gospel account that we should do an assessment of what will be required to move forward with God. This is so that we don't start down the pathway and discover that we are not up for the challenge and that we can't finish the work.
There has to be a vision, something that is our barometer to let us know if we are moving in the right direction and proceeding at the right pace. The prophet Habakkuk tells us to write the vision and make it plain that he may run that reads it. It is for an appointed time and it will come to pass.
Once we have heard God's voice about our future, we should move out in the direction that He has set for us. When we know that it is time for us to execute on God's plan for our lives, we should let nothing hinder us from that. We should do it today. When God called Abram to leave his family and go to a place that God had already pre-destined for him, the Bible says that he left as soon as the Lord had spoken to him. He did it "today."
So what is God instructing you to do? Is He telling you to go back to school to complete your education or to pursue a different degree? Is He telling you to find another job, to retire, to forgive someone, to forgive yourself?
Is He telling you to start a business or to submit to authority? Is He telling you to spend more time with Him, reading His Word and in prayer and meditation? Is He telling you to sow a seed into a ministry?
Whatever He's telling you to do, do it today. Even as I am writing this article, I know that I am speaking most directly and most clearly to myself. God is challenging me in some areas of my life and ministry. He's telling me to "go" and it feels as if the challenge is going to rip my heart to pieces.
What I haven't mentioned is that the instruction to move out will be a challenge. It is difficult to step out of the familiar into the unknown. But what we need to consider is that with God, there is no unknown. It's unknown to us but God is All-Knowing and All-Wise. He already knows what's up ahead and when we put our confidence in Him and in His plan, uncertainty evaporates. This is called faith - the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
We have to be able to recognize the voice of God and to be able to distinguish it from our own voice (in our heads), from the voices of others and from the voice of the enemy. Jesus says His sheep know His voice and won't follow a strange voice. This is so because the sheep spend time in His presence, hearing Him speak to them. They are familiar with His voice - His commands, His warnings and His assurances. So when He speaks, His sheep respond immediately out of the confidence of Who He is and the assurance that He only has something great in store for them. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Ps. 23:1)
In last month's newsletter, I encouraged you to go forth into your greatness this year. I challenged you to not let anyone or anything keep you from walking in your purpose. Don't let anything keep you from the life of fulfillment for which you were born. Yes, it will require prayer. Hearing from God and responding "today" will require a commitment to spend time with God so that you can recognize His voice. As you hear Him saying "Go forth into your future, into the fulfillment of your earthly assignment," do it today.
