Organizing the Inside – Day 133 Random Acts Of Obedience

January 14, 2012 at 1:00 pm · Filed under Encouragement, Inspiration, Love, Relationship, Women's Ministry and tagged: Christian, Holy Spirit, Misdialed call, Obedience

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. ~Galatians 6:7-10

Missed Opportunity
Today, I was reminded of how important every opportunity to do a good deed is. We often find ourselves so busy living our marvelous lives that we forget to take advantage of the small opportunities to do good. Random acts of kindness are good, and we should take advantage each opportunity to show the love of Christ. But let’s consider for a moment, random acts of obedience.

Random acts of obedience
Today my phone rang and I had only a few seconds to shift my thinking and obey God. I’d always enjoyed receiving wrong number calls. Each time someone called my phone looking for someone other than me, I’d get so excited for the unexpected opportunity to tell them about Jesus. But somehow today I was so busy, so preoccupied with completing my project, that when a woman called my phone, to speak with her friend , only felt irritated. I felt that she’d interrupted me with her call. I promptly told her, “You have the wrong number.” She somehow insisted that she’d dialed the correct number and began to explain who gave her the number. Her strong accent only seemed to make me more determined to hurry her off the phone, because I could not clearly understand her and felt the conversation was fruitless. After a few more polite exchanges we ended our call, an immediately as the line disconnected, I realized what I had done. This woman insisted that she’d called the correct number and instead of me sharing the gospel with her as I’d done in the past; I missed out on a random act of obedience. I wondered why?

Have you ever felt like…YIKES, Lord I’m sorry?
I’m sure we all can acknowledge experiencing that sudden feeling of deep sadness and regret because of a missed opportunity. How did I miss this? How was I so busy with completing my project that I didn’t have a moment to share Christ with the stranger on the phone? Maybe she didn’t know Christ… Maybe this mistaken phone call was not a mistake at all. One thing I know for sure… Romans 8:28 is one hundred percent true. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Whether this wrong number was for me or for her, the fact that I’m reminded of my need for change, is enough to convince me that this phone call was likely meant for me, and many others who are called according to His purpose.

The next opportunity
I’m glad God’s forgiveness and compassion extends far beyond any façade to the root cause of sin. Being ready in season and out is a responsibility we each have as Christians; whether we are asked to suddenly explain our hope or a random act of obedience is presented. I know there will be other opportunities for a random act of obedience, because I asked for it. I’m convinced that next time I’ll be ready to instantaneously affirm my obedience.  Jesus didn’t miss any opportunities to obey God, because He remained one with God. The closer we are to God the less likely we are to need a moment to establish decisiveness. The next time I receive a wrong number call,  I’m determined to be sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit that obedience is an automatic response, no matter how busy I think I am.

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