Ask God

Yesterday my Pastor spoke at an ordination service. His topic was the title of this post. I decided to blog about it because I think it is key to serving the Lord. He spoke from 1 Samuel 23 in which David had to defend Keilah against the Philistines. In 3 instances, David was faced with a decision. Instead of listening to those around him for guidance, David inquired of the Lord. David asked God.

I remember when I finally stepped into my calling as a minister. I struggled because I had read and heard that women should not be ministers. Although I knew God called me, I was worried about others and began to question my calling. I remember going to my Pastor about it. He gave me some info to research the historical aspects of things, some scriptural references and his own views on the situation. Finally he looked at me and said, "Q, all of this stuff will help you. But honestly you really only need to ask one person." Then he pointed upward. Later I heeded his words and asked God. God said to me, "I called YOU." That was all I needed to hear.

I have the utmost respect for those in leadership positions in the church. God has placed them there to lead His people and to help us. But I also understand that they are still men and women. They are flawed just like I am. And unlike God, they don't know everything. It is important for us to not get caught up in others so much that we forget who we serve. Sometimes God has something just for you that others won't understand. Even so called Christians will talk about you and look at you sideways when you are doing something they don't understand. But if you ask God and He is guiding you, what they say shouldn't matter.

We need to stop looking down on our brothers and sisters because they don't dress the way we think they should, don't praise the way we think, or don't serve God on a day we think it should be done. We focus and battle each other on so much stuff all for the sake of being right. I am not saying we shouldn't discuss things and work stuff out. But God is a God of order. Most importantly, He is God. He wants His will to be done. We are here to lead others to Him. To bless others. To help others.

Ask God about how YOU should live your life. Ask God about how YOU should serve Him. When God answers, because he will, then you do what the Lord says and forget about everyone else. Let them talk. Let them shake their heads. Let them look down on you. You do what the Lord told you to do.

A few years ago, I stumbled across something that I thought would make my husband and I a lot of money. I look, I researched, we prayed and finally we asked God. We got the release to go ahead. At first, things were going great but then later not so much. Once again we asked God and we didn't get the release to walk away. By this time, folks were looking at us like we were crazy and began to question whether God was telling us to proceed. After awhile, we finally got the release to move on after asking God and we did. Now to others, it looked like we failed. To them they think we were not following God's word. We kind of knew how Job felt during that time. It was hard, and it was frustrating. But what they don't know is the blessings and the lessons we got out of the situation. We were able to bless people. We were able to meet people we would not have otherwise met. We learned so much about trusting God in spite of others. We learned to just lean on God and allow Him to guide us. That situation opened so many doors for us. Because of our obedience when it would have been so easy to walk away, God has blessed us all the more. We look back and smile even though there are some who still question us. We have peace because we know before we did anything, we ASKED GOD!!!! Ask God, He will answer you. Q