Will You Go?
When I dedicated my life to the Lord, I boldly declared that I would go wherever and whenever He wanted. It was an easy dedication at the time. I was sixteen and had no definite plans for my life yet. I expected an exotic vocation, but it would seem God intended me to work for Him right where I was. In time, I married and began creating a family. Settled and comfortable, those words of dedication came back to me when my husband repeated them. He wanted to know if I still meant them. Of course! Where would this take us? Was God laying on my husband’s heart to go to some exotic location? Were we headed to a large city? Perhaps we would leave the snow and freezing weather behind us on our new adventure. Wherever and whenever is large commitment. For us, it was a small town with a population smaller than the students in my high school, in an area known as “The Badlands” for a reason. It was a place where the freezing weather still existed, just lasted longer. It was also the exact place God was calling us to. And the whenever - - well that came in two weeks! Two weeks to pack up, move, and say goodbye to family and friends.
Rebekah only had a few moments to decide if she was willing to go where God was calling. He answer had to be immediate, and so was her departure from everything she had ever known. She trusted God to guide her life – whenever and wherever that led. It isn’t easy to follow God into the unknown. In fact, often God asks us to do the hardest things we have ever done, but He also promises to always be with us. He promises us that good things wait at the end of our obedience.
Isaiah 58:10-11 promises us: “If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Trusting God always leads us to where He calls us to be. he will never lead us in the wrong direction. Can we, like Laban and Bethuel, answer quickly that God’s will cannot be argued with? It is easier said than done. When I was sixteen, the thought of being led away by God was exciting. At thirty, it was harder than I imaged. God never promises us an easy road. He promises us good things, strength, and His presence when we follow where He leads, when He calls. Will you go?
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