Whatever Lord!

Whatever Lord!

What does that mean? What are we signing up for when we say those words?

The saints through the ages who have lived those words are the ones who have walked through wind, rain, and storm, getting wet and cold and bruised in the process but believing Him all the while to faithfully complete what He has begun in them.

What does it mean to say, "Whatever Lord!"

If you are Abraham it means leaving all your family and your home and your security for a promise that seems impossible. It means believing when all hope seems foolish. And it means taking the hope that has been fulfilled and laying it on the altar of God's will.

If you are Hannah it means humbling yourself with grief in your plea to the Lord to the point that the priest thinks you are drunk. It means going home in hope and faith and then seeing your greatest desire fulfilled. It means raising that love of your heart in the knowledge you will soon take him to the Temple to spend the rest of his life there.

If you are Hosea it means dieing to the dreams of a happy home and family that rests in the heart of every young man and instead following the Lord's direction and marrying the one who was guaranteed to defraud you, shame you, and break your heart. And then it means taking her back again and again so as to be a living example of the One who does the same for all His people.

If you are John the Baptist it means leaving the parents whose delight you are to live in the desert and wear uncomfortable clothes and eat bugs. It means proclaiming a message of repentance instead of one of prosperity. It means scorning the leaders yet gaining a following of the common people. And then it means purposefully withdrawing from that fame so you will decrease that Another can increase. And finally it means proclaiming the truth so forcefully to the wickedness around you that your head is severed from your body.

What is God asking of you today? Is it hard or uncomfortable? Is it outside your comfort zone? Outside your gifts? Does it run counter to your plans and dreams? Does it involve a cost, whether personal or physical?

May He find us, His people, ready and willing, and shouting at the top of our lungs, "Whatever Lord! I'm your man! I'm your woman! Send me!"