I had noticed the family at church before. Their daughter was in the same Sunday School class as mine, and I had noticed the temporary tag that identified her as a visitor. Every time before, I had stifled the urge to say hello with the quick rationalization that I had to go pick up the other kids, we were on our way to lunch, I had other people that I wanted to talk to…you know, the usual excuses that keep us away from obeying those inward promptings.
But this summer, as I have been reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan with a group of women from church, I learned (amongst a lot of other things) that many of those spontaneous little pushes are from the Holy Spirit.
Okay, maybe not the urge I had the other day to get a Heath bar flurry at the ice cream store, but those moments where you have to make a decision to say hello, take a risk, speak truth, share your story, or even just give someone a few quarters at the grocery store? You know the ones.
I am often tempted to ignore those urges, because I’m either so engrossed with my own life or it feels insignificant. But the truth I learned is that it is more about being obedient than it is about saving the world. Francis Chan shared a story about feeling compelled to go back to a coffee shop and tell a gruff biker dude that God loves him. There was no miraculous salvation experience and the guy barely acknowledged his existence, but that wasn’t the point.
He listened and obeyed. End of story.
And honestly, if I’m not able or willing to obey in the easy or simple things, than how can I expect to be trusted with a more extreme call to action. Obedience is obedience, no matter how big or small.
I stopped my frenzied trajectory a couple of weeks ago, even though I was worn out from volunteering in a cranky class, my kids were dashing towards the cookies, and I was indeed on my way out for lunch. I stopped, said hello, and asked if they were new to our church. Come to find out they had been in town for a month, just moved from out of state, were looking to get connected, and live one street over from us.
She said to me, “I’m so glad you said something”. I was glad too, because I know how uncomfortable it can be as the new family in town, and in the process, we found new friends, right in our neighborhood.
The Holy Spirit loves to push us into those spontaneous moments, and the more we obey, the more we see the blessings pour down on others…and us.
Listen. Obey. Go. The Holy Spirit is calling you to reach out to those around you. Don’t miss it.
