Don't Move Until God Says So!

What would it be like to start every day by waiting for God to tell you what to do?   How would it be to set your personal schedule and to-do list aside and to wait and pray for God to indicate where you needed to be, whom you needed to meet, and what you needed to do? 

I commend to you one of Darrin Wilson's impacting documentaries - "Father of Lights."  In it he will introduce you to a man in India named Ravi who starts every day just that way.  He prays to God whom he refers to as "Daddy."  He waits until "Daddy" speaks to him, then he does what God tells him to do.  It could be as simple as going to a particular village.  It could be as specific as finding a man with a white beard in an orange robe on a busy city street.  It could be as crucial and dangerous as confronting a local witch doctor responsible for the deaths of several Christian leaders.  And where Ravi goes, the love of God in Jesus Christ follows, and lives change.  What would that be like?  Is that just for specially chosen people, or is that an option or even a call for every Jesus-follower?

I have a friend who has taken a job in a new community and who goes to that community Monday through Thursday to be on the job, prior to the time when he and his wife will move there permanently.  Right now he's a stranger in a strange place.  One morning my friend awoke and felt led to pray specifically that God show him how he (my friend) could join God in what God is doing to reach people and change lives through the power of the risen Jesus.  Then my friend just approached his day waiting for God to speak.  While at work, he noticed a co-worker several desks over reading a Bible.  My friend is like I am, introverted and not prone to invade the space of other people.  He might have just passed off the sight of his co-worker as a comforting indicator that there are other Jesus-followers in his now community.  However, the Spirit of God clearly said to him, "Now!"  Against all normal instincts, he want to his co-worker's desk, introduced himself, and said he couldn't help but notice that she was reading a Bible.  She said that she was completely new to the Bible and to faith itself.  She was just at a point in her life where she was reaching for something.  My friend commended her on her step of faith, and they proceeded to talk.  The conversation gave my friend the opportunity to speak of God's grace, how that grace is fully known in Jesus, and how powerful the Word of God is in transforming lives and the world.  He got to participate in Jesus changing a person's life.

Would all this happened had my friend not started the day asking, "God, show me what you want me to do.  Show me how I can join you in what you are doing, and align my heart with yours."?  How often have I been guilty of making my to-do list for the day/week/month, and then asking God to bless it?  Is this kind of thing something God expects of all of us who claim Jesus?  What do you think?

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.