“I wanted to go to the Big Box Wholesale Club yesterday,” Stan commented one morning while we waited for breakfast.
“What’d you get?” I asked.
“Nothing,” was his one-word response.
“Why nothing?” I said. “Was it closed?”
“I never got there,” Stan replied. “I was heading down Grant Road, ready to turn on Big Box Lane, when all of a sudden I had this sense that I was to keep going on Grant Road. I did, and about a minute later I came upon a guy waving me to stop.”
“Then what?”
“I stopped and asked him what was going on,” Stan said. “His car had broken down and he needed to get his sick child to the doctor. I had them get in my car and off we went. While I waited for them as they saw the doctor, I called Mike over at Mike’s Auto Repair to get the car towed. After the doctor visit, I gave the dad and his child a ride home.”
“So you went to a doctor’s office rather than to Big Box,” I said. “It’s interesting how God often interrupts our plans for something He has in mind.”
“You’re right about that,” Stan replied. “And He may not give us all of the details; He just wants us to obey. It’s kind of like what Jesus did when He sent a couple of His disciples to prepare the place where they were going to have the Passover meal before He went to the cross.”
“How so?” I asked.
“As you may remember,” Stan said, “when Jesus was getting close to Jerusalem on His way to the cross, it was just about time for the Passover dinner to celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread.”
“The Last Supper?”
“That’s it.” Stan replied. “In any event, a couple of the disciples, I think it was Peter and John, wanted to know where they were supposed to go to prepare the meal. So they asked Jesus. And that’s when it happened.”
“What?”
“Jesus gave them some instructions of what to do, some instructions that probably didn’t make a whole lot of sense to them at the time. But they did what they were told even though they couldn’t see the whole picture. And it turned out that Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about. It’s to be the same with us.”
“In what way?”
“Let’s look at what happened. Jesus told the disciples to go into the city. They would meet a man carrying a jug of water. They were to follow him and go into whatever house he entered. When they got into the house, they were to tell the owner that Jesus wanted to know about the guest room.”
“The guest room?”
“Yeah,” Stan replied. “They were to tell the owner that Jesus wanted to know where He was going to be the guest for the Passover meal. And that’s the way it happened.”
“And all that happened even though the disciples may not have understood anything about why or what Jesus was telling them,” I commented.
“Exactly,” Stan said. “That’s what happened with me on the way to Big Box. I sure felt led to continue on Grant Road. I didn’t know why, but God did. The disciples went into the city with some instructions that may not have made any sense to them, but those instructions made sense to God. And the only thing that really matters is our obedience when something doesn’t make sense to us. We may not know, but we do know Who does!”
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Bible verses to consider:
And the disciples went out, and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. Mark 14:16.
And they departed and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. Luke 22:13.
And why do you call Me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say? Luke 6:46.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for giving your only begotten Son so I can follow Him into your eternal presence. Thank you, too, for all you have for me to do for you and your kingdom while you keep me here. I confess that too often I don’t do what you have for me to do because I want to know how it’s going to turn out before I do anything. Please forgive the foolishness of not following you even though I don’t know where you are leading. Help me to follow every step of your lead in every instance. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Have you decided to follow Jesus into God’s eternal presence? If no, why have you not accepted His free and gracious provision? Is it because you don’t understand what it means and won’t commit until you understand everything? If that is what’s holding you back, please know that it’s a lie of Satan. Jesus did not say, “Follow Me if you know where I’m leading.” He said “Follow Me.” Period. If you sense the need for change in how you view not obeying because you don’t understand everything, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 