God Doesn’t Push

I heard a joke once about a little girl who was hurrying down a sidewalk on her way to Sunday School. I’m fuzzy on the details, but when has that stopped me? That was rhetorical, y’all, but thanks. Seriously, I’m pretty sure I can set this up for us and I know it’s worth a try. I see a message embedded in the humor and as you know, that’s my favorite kind of story to share.

The way I heard it, the little girl was trying to avoid being late for class, again, which would be the second Sunday in a row. It didn’t look good, however, which is why she decided to pray while she ran. “Lord,” she began, “help me get to church on time. Please!” Just then, the little girl tripped and fell on the hard pavement. Now she was late, her knees were skinned up, and her tights were torn. Frustrated, the girl could be heard saying, “Thanks, Lord, but you didn’t have to push!”

There’s the humor. Now, here’s the message. The truth is that our Father leads those who believe and He guides those who respond, but He doesn’t push. Consider the words of Jesus from John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Sometimes we believers tend to think we don’t hear near as well as He said we would, but the problem is on our end, friends. God makes it possible for us to hear Him by coming to live in us through the Holy Spirit and then He begins speaking. Learning to be led by the Spirit of God is about yielding when we believe He is speaking, and yielding quickly. The quicker we learn to obey Him the more developed our hearing skills become and the easier it is to hear Him speak the next time.  Trust and Obey, that ought to be a song. Oh, you’re right. Cue the choir and let’s do this thing!

Hugs, Shellie