What's in Front of You?

On speaking about “Hearing from God,” Jenn Johnson said, “Be faithful where you’re planted; build what’s in front of you.” OK, so what does being faithful have to do with hearing from God?  There are times God may ask you to do something crazy; maybe you’re at the grocery store and God says, “Go pray for that person down the aisle.” Then you begin to rationalize thinking that is probably just my mind making up crazy ideas; why would God ask me to do something so extreme and out of my comfort zone?  Or maybe God asks you to give the only $2 in your wallet to the homeless person on the corner. And again you begin to think that’s probably just my mind again. What can anyone do with $2? They probably won’t use it for anything good anyway. So maybe it wasn’t God. Maybe it was just your mind. Wouldn’t you rather have done it and it not been “from God,” than have missed an opportunity for obedience?

“There shouldn’t be a thought process between when God speaks and when we obey. When we obey, we don’t know what kind of chain reaction we’re starting.” (Jenn J.).  So let’s get to my real point. Maybe God hasn’t called you to do something so extreme and out of your comfort zone. Maybe He’s called you to “build what’s in front of you.” Maybe He’s told you to take your kid on a date night once a week, or have a family night, or take cookies to your neighbor or help your parents out around the house, or send a kind note to a co-worker. What are the everyday things that God has put right in front of you to build and be faithful in during this season?

I don’t think God asks us to do things just to see if we’ll be obedient, although that's part of it, but I think He asks us to do things to help build our faith, to build our character, so that we may grow and thrive as powerful people. Banning Liebscher has a great message about building what’s in front of you that he preaches on from Nehemiah.  He mentions that this is part of our process – building what’s in front of us. If God gave us everything we wanted before we went through a process it would probably kill us because we wouldn’t be prepared to handle the weight of a vision without character.  Banning says to “embrace the season and do it well [so] people will find you thriving in every part of the journey.” 

So what has God asked you to do? What are you called to build that is right in front of you? DO IT WELL! You never know what kind of chain reaction your small act of faithfulness/obedience will start.