I attend a women's Bible study through my church on Tuesday nights. At 8:30pm...I'm generally super tired by the time I'm home at 10:30! Anyway, we are currently studying Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break by Kelly Minter (good stuff, by the way!). A couple weeks ago, we touched on obedience.
In the book of Nehemiah, the wall is being rebuilt. The book begins with Nehemiah in Susa, which I have now learned is like a winter resort (maybe like a retirement neighborhood in Florida, if you will). Anyway, Nehemiah heard about the wall being destroyed and that his fellow Jews were in "great trouble and shame" (1:3). So, instead of saying "Oh, well that really stinks for them...I believe I'll continue enjoying my time here in Susa" he immediately becomes distraught for his people, weeping and mourning for their sake. Fast forward a little while, Nehemiah is back leading the people to rebuild the wall and he's met with lots of opposition - both intentional and unintentional. The quote from Kelly Minter says this "Even well-meaning people (or events, places, etc) can unintentionally draw us away from God's will in our lives."
That really got me thinking. I think I can point out the bad things that are drawing me away, but is there anything that is seemingly "good" that's drawing me away from my obedience to Christ? We were pretty financially strapped since moving here, especially once we moved off campus...maybe we couldn't really afford it (but I really wanted to move!). Anyway, Luke took a new job at Dick's Sporting Goods that is full-time, going to provide really good, super cheap insurance and a larger paycheck. However, this job is, like mentioned above, full-time. Which cramps his seminary style. He'll still be going - but it will be more online and evening classes and possibly part-time. Fast forward a couple weeks and I land a teaching job for the fall. Is it sad that we are so excited and think we'll be so financially secure from a teaching salary?! So, beginning with my first paycheck in September, we won't NEED Luke's income from DSG to get us by (but we do WANT it!).
I guess the moral of the story is, I struggled for a few days with the thought that maybe Luke's job was one of those seemingly good things that is really pulling us away from our obedience in Kansas City. If you remember correctly, we were to move here for seminary and then...??? KC has now become almost-home (I say almost because I still SO miss my family!) with decent jobs, great friends, awesome church and thoughts are now running through our heads of staying here for (gasp!) longer than just seminary.
So my question for my two or three readers out there is this...how do you know what obedience is? Especially when it could be something good that's distracting you, not something obviously bad. Yes, God brought us here for seminary, of that I'm sure. But, are we here for JUST seminary and then we're off to who-knows-where (maybe I'm scared of where that is so I say we stay here!)?! Or does God have bigger plans for us in Kansas City?!
In the book of Nehemiah, the wall is being rebuilt. The book begins with Nehemiah in Susa, which I have now learned is like a winter resort (maybe like a retirement neighborhood in Florida, if you will). Anyway, Nehemiah heard about the wall being destroyed and that his fellow Jews were in "great trouble and shame" (1:3). So, instead of saying "Oh, well that really stinks for them...I believe I'll continue enjoying my time here in Susa" he immediately becomes distraught for his people, weeping and mourning for their sake. Fast forward a little while, Nehemiah is back leading the people to rebuild the wall and he's met with lots of opposition - both intentional and unintentional. The quote from Kelly Minter says this "Even well-meaning people (or events, places, etc) can unintentionally draw us away from God's will in our lives."
That really got me thinking. I think I can point out the bad things that are drawing me away, but is there anything that is seemingly "good" that's drawing me away from my obedience to Christ? We were pretty financially strapped since moving here, especially once we moved off campus...maybe we couldn't really afford it (but I really wanted to move!). Anyway, Luke took a new job at Dick's Sporting Goods that is full-time, going to provide really good, super cheap insurance and a larger paycheck. However, this job is, like mentioned above, full-time. Which cramps his seminary style. He'll still be going - but it will be more online and evening classes and possibly part-time. Fast forward a couple weeks and I land a teaching job for the fall. Is it sad that we are so excited and think we'll be so financially secure from a teaching salary?! So, beginning with my first paycheck in September, we won't NEED Luke's income from DSG to get us by (but we do WANT it!).
I guess the moral of the story is, I struggled for a few days with the thought that maybe Luke's job was one of those seemingly good things that is really pulling us away from our obedience in Kansas City. If you remember correctly, we were to move here for seminary and then...??? KC has now become almost-home (I say almost because I still SO miss my family!) with decent jobs, great friends, awesome church and thoughts are now running through our heads of staying here for (gasp!) longer than just seminary.
So my question for my two or three readers out there is this...how do you know what obedience is? Especially when it could be something good that's distracting you, not something obviously bad. Yes, God brought us here for seminary, of that I'm sure. But, are we here for JUST seminary and then we're off to who-knows-where (maybe I'm scared of where that is so I say we stay here!)?! Or does God have bigger plans for us in Kansas City?!
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