Does God ask us to do hard things
Yes He does
He asks us to do very hard things
Heart wrenching
Hard things
That is what His grace is for
Grace to do the hard
Not grace to do whatever we please
But grace to do whatever God pleases
I remember years ago when I was in Bible College God asked me to do this hard thing. My parents divorced when I was 18 and my Dad ended up moving to the same city where I attended college.
During my college years my Dad was not in a good place. He was not well. He loved God but he was filled with himself I guess. It was terrible, heartbreaking as his daughter. He was so selfish. He was in and out of jobs and had very little money. As a result I ended up giving him money, a lot of money. I became my Dad’s crutch. I knew It was all lop sided but that is just how it was. This went on for several years.
I will never forget how God helped me do this hard thing:
I was waitressing at Perry’s on Fremont at the time and one night my Dad called me at work and said Hey I need 5 bucks to go play golf. I said, ok come down I will give it to you. As I got off the phone with him I immediately felt a complete lack of peace, frustrated, and just sick in side. I felt the Lord speak to me and say Julie if you give him 5 bucks you will be angry and it will be your fault. You have only yourself to be mad at. I said it’s just 5 bucks! I was arguing with God! Telling him 5 bucks was pocket change!
Proverbs 21:3
To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
I was so afraid of saying no to my Dad. It was far easier to sacrifice money. As crazy as this sounds I was afraid if I said no to him and wasn’t “there” for him, he would commit suicide. The Lord knew this too. So the Lord said to me just put it on him. Tell him you will give him 5 bucks but when you do this is how it will make you feel. So that is what I did. I will never forget it either. I still see myself outside Perry’s, under the overhang, and my Dad walking up. We were closed and it was about 9:30 at night. I met him outside. He was his happy self I guess because he was going to go golfing the next day. As he walked up I said calmly and “matter of factly” if that is even a word, Dad, I will give you this 5 bucks but this is how it will make me feel. That is all I said. My Dad instantly became angry. He became angry before I even got all the words out. I mean instantly and said all I do for you kids, all I do! He went on a rant as he walked off into the parking lot yelling all these very selfish things.
I walked back in the restaurant finished my shift, got in my car, and as I drove back home, to my dorm, peace came over me. The closer I got to the campus the more peace I felt. I had so much peace knowing I did the right thing, the hard thing that God asked me to do. Grace met me in that moment. Grace to obey and do the hard!
Do you know from that day forward my Dad never asked for money again. Not once! I remember I use to meet him at McDonald’s right there on 82nd and you know what…he began to buy my lunch. I would offer to pay for my own and he would say your money is no good Julie and then he would pay for both of us. Amazing what happened as a result of me doing that very hard thing.
You see
Yes
God did something in me that night but more importantly
God did something in my Dad that night
And as his daughter it was severely needed
Is it possible that your obedience could release goodness in someone else
I guess so
We are praying for all of you
Because of this
To have God’s best
We MUST do the hard
Whatever. That. Is.