Mr Anderson's Semi-Annual Surprise Post

Some of you that keep up to date on us think we are this amazing family, 4 kids and adopting a 5th. I’m here to tell you that we are not all that “Amazing.” Many times we question ourselves as to what we have gotten ourselves into or what was God thinking in giving us 4 children in 5 ½ years. We go about many days complaining about our lives because of the sacrifice it takes to raise these little time-sucking monsters. Do the fights ever stop? Does the laundry ever get completely done? How do the dishes pile up that fast? Did they all go to the same school of whining and do they coordinate whose turn it is? Do I ever get a break? Is time to myself once a month really enough? Clearly we have the complaining accomplished in our house. So… we have never really gotten clear cut answers from God about most of these matters but we have gotten a clear answer from Him that this is what He has chosen for us. The adoption question was clearly confirmed by the Spirit as something we should do, knowing that we didn’t necessarily feel like doing it at the time. I’ve come to learn, as most of you, that Obedience to the Spirit doesn’t require positive feelings. If it did so many things would not get accomplished according to His will. Throughout the Bible there have been many characters that resisted God’s call on their lives, but still ended up doing what they needed to do. In our own lives I have learned for us, that one reason He has given us so much to do is for us to recognize that we cannot do it on our own. In other words, if He only gave us a life that we could handle on our own, then we would wake up each morning not seeking Him out because we don’t need Him today. We would have it under control. The word that has come to my mind recently is Capacity. We all have different capacities to do “stuff”. That is, our God-given abilities allow us to do a lot of stuff without needing help from anybody. If we have “stuff” that is within our capacity, we feel at ease and like life is going good. We check off our list and the list is complete and we feel relief, All is Well. However, reality tells us that most of us do not live in this world most of the time. What I have been learning is that in order for me to rely on the Lord, He gives me more “stuff” than my capacity can handle. However, as I get through it all with His help, I realize in hindsight that he actually increased my capacity. I still often question why He gives us so much “stuff” during different periods of our lives, but I have to be alright with the answer that:
He gives me more than I can handle, because that is the only way that I will rely on Him to guide my steps.
Really, He is requiring us to step up our faith. As examples stated previously, faith doesn’t mean that I can’t question what He’s up to or even complain about our circumstances. It does however mean Obedience.
So… my impression is that many of you are not doing things that God has called you to do because you don’t feel like you have the capacity to do anymore. Which is true! My encouragement to you followers of Christ is to seek out what the Holy Spirit might be communicating to you and your family. Pray together about things that might be on your heart and see if the Lord confirms them. Many of us are afraid of what God might have us do. It is alright to be afraid at first, but hasn’t He proved trustworthy, and don’t we believe that He cares about what we do in our lives, and do we believe that rewards await us for following after Him. Thus, our fear turns to obedience and we can “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” So go forth and “Do Hard Things,” be challenged by life, resist comfortability and complacency. The Lord has far more for you to do than you want to do. I have kept a quote/page from Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose flip calendar in my planner. Thursday, March 15th says:
“God doesn’t owe you an explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can’t. Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussion. In fact, you will never understand some commands until you obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding.”
So remember, we are not amazing or extraordinary. I would just say that we are obedient when it comes to some things, like increasing our family; ultimately seeking to be obedient in all things.
You to have something today that God has you to do, it’s called purpose. It’s called the Holy Spirit living within you, which was promised and delivered according to His Word. Go Forth in the Spirit’s power!
Some of you may have caught on that this post too is an act of obedience, it was required of me about a month ago. Today I finally took the time to obey.
Thanks for reading blogheads!
Mr Anderson
(not to be confused with the truly talented Mrs. Anderson.)