April/May 2019 - Vol. 103.
 
man
                                                          rewiring a
                                                          light fixture
Rewiring My Fears
.
by Sam Williamson


After four years of trying to sell our old house, we finally moving into our new house last August. To prepare it for retreats, I’ve been immersed in chores: creating a new kitchen, installing new cabinets, making a desk, and rewiring about twenty light switches to link them to Alexa. All things I’ve done before: plumbing, carpentry, and wiring.

Now that the house-updates are done, I sense God calling me to write a book on Cultural Creep (how we adopt the world’s solutions while rejecting God’s answers), to talk with a friend about a difficult subject, and to coach a spiritual organization about how to communicate God’s word.

And I feel wholly and completely inadequate. How can I communicate the world’s influence without sounding like a crabby old man? How can I speak to my friend without sounding like a harsh jerk? How do I move from behavior-ism to gospel-ism when tips and techniques seems their default message?

I’m sleeping poorly because I think God is assigning me tasks that I’m ill-equipped to execute.

God Always Demands the Unreasonable
Everybody’s inner default is to fasten onto the familiar, to perform tasks we already know how to do. But the greatest triumphs of past spiritual leaders were always when they tackled the impossible:
  • God asked Abraham and Sarah to have a child when they were in their nineties;
  • God told Moses to find water for Israel in a rock in the desert with no oasis in sight;   
  • God wouldn’t let Gideon battle Midian till he reduced his army from 32,000 to 300;
  • When God called St. Francis to rebuild the church, God meant an entire culture not a tiny chapel.
Why does God always draw us beyond the end of our resources? Not just to the edge of our strength, not merely a toe over the line of our aptitudes; he persistently pushes us past our natural abilities until we cry “Uncle!” (Or, “God help me!”).

It’s Always About His Life in Us
Scripture repeatedly teaches a simple message with multiple metaphors, the most common is: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its laborers work in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

When I was preparing our new house for retreats, I didn’t pray much about my activities. I’ve performed them so many times before I could do them in my sleep. Well, as I sleep-walked my way through carpentry, I was training myself to build my house without the Lord. Literally.

So why should I be surprised when difficult assignments make me feel totally helpless? I’ve orientated myself through regular practice to work as an independent contractor.

When God told Moses to confront Pharaoh (the greatest leader of the greatest empire), he said, “Tell Pharaoh to give away his single greatest resource for constructing cities; and tell him make it snappy!” Moses asks God “How can I do this?” because it seemed impossible. God answered, “But I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12).

I think God orchestrates unreasonable and impossible tasks to re-orient us to accomplish even the tiniest tasks through him; not on our own, and not completely on his own. He likes to work his greatest miracles through us, his life in ours.

Whether we’re tackling a toilet or walking on water.

Sam

article © Copyright 2019, Beliefs of the Heart, Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission.


    Hearing God book cover  


Sam Williamson has published numerous articles and has written two books. He has a blog site, www.beliefsoftheheart.com, and can be reached at Sam@BeliefsoftheHeart.com. 


Hearing God in Conversation: How to Recognize His Voice Everywhere, by Samuel C. Williamson, published by Kregel Publications, 2016, available from Amazon                              


top photo of a man rewiring a light fixture at bigstock.com Stock Photo ID: 66062554
.
Return to Table of Contents or Archives  • (c) copyright 2019 The Sword of the Spirit
.