My four-year-old granddaughter, Addy, was intently playing in her room. She heard her daddy calling her from downstairs, “Addy, come downstairs. We need to go.”
Addy was in her own little world of imagination, interacting with her dolls. She didn’t want to be interrupted. She was very content to stay in her comfortable room. She yelled down to her daddy, “No!”
Her daddy was a little shocked that Addy boldly refused to obey him. He called again with a little bit more intensity. The full-name approach. “Addison Faith Daniel, I said come down here now.”
Addy, still enjoying her own world, did not want to move. She again yelled, “No!”
At this moment, her daddy marched up the stairs and opened the door to her bedroom to find his daughter sitting on the floor with her dolls all around her. “Addison, what did you just say to me?”
In Addy’s mind, she knew she couldn’t say NO to her father again. With her big brown eyes focused on her daddy, she said, “No—ah, like Noah in the Bible!”
Addison is a smart little girl who manipulated biblical knowledge to say no to her earthly daddy.
So many times I am content in my own little world, when God calls my name to obey Him in a certain area for His kingdom purposes. Often I even use biblical knowledge to rationalize my “no,” just like Addy.
When we choose to say yes to God in any area of life, God will be faithful to us and use it to enlarge His kingdom.
In Joshua 2 we meet a woman named Rahab. Rahab was a single woman, the owner of a house of prostitution and a prostitute herself. Her home was on the city wall and most likely overlooked the surrounding country.
Although Rahab’s choice of careers was acceptable among the pagan culture of her time, I believe she was at a point of desperation. Her life seemed like a dead end. I imagine her sitting on a window seat thinking to herself, “There just has to be more to life than this.”
When we become desperate, we are more likely to take risks. As long as I am comfortable and content, it is easy to say no.
Rahab took a huge risk one day. According to Hebrews 11:31, she welcomed two men who were spies from Israel into her home.
Rahab was fully aware that these two Jewish spies were in Jericho to strategize the demise of her city. The English Standard Version says she gave them “a friendly welcome,” and the New King James says she “received the spies with peace.”
By welcoming the spies into her home, she was committing treason. She was putting her life, the lives of her family, and her business in danger.
However, Rahab peacefully welcomed this risky interruption because she was ready for the One True God to shake up her life. In Joshua 2:11, Rahab said she had heard of what the Lord had done—dried up the Red Sea and conquered other kingdoms.
Rahab used the word Elohim for God in this passage. Elohim is the Creator God. She had decided that this god she had heard of was the One True God—her Creator. She was desperate enough to risk her entire livelihood to be obedient to Elohim.
How do you respond to interruptions? Do you see them as tools the Lord may use to accomplish a kingdom purpose?
Months ago, I was driving down the road and saw a young woman dressed in nice jogging attire sitting on the sidewalk throwing up. I was in a very nice part of Knoxville, Tennessee, where I live.
I clearly heard the Lord whisper to me, “Donna, stop and check on her.” I quickly used every rational argument I could think of to say no to God … from “I’m too busy; I have a speaking engagement tonight I need to prepare for” to “This could be dangerous!”
I passed her by and finally bargained with the Lord to turn the car around and go back. If she was still there, I would stop; if not, I would be off the hook.
She was still there. I had to risk it. I had to choose to welcome the interruption peacefully. I had to choose obedience.
That day I met Julie. Julie had gone for a run and gotten ill. She needed a ride back home. She also needed to be reminded that God is sovereign and that He loves her and has a plan for her life. She confessed to being a follower of Christ but not currently walking with Him.
Julie even showed up at the speaking engagement I had that night! My job was not to change Julie’s life. My job was to say yes to God and speak love and truth into her life at that moment.
Rahab’s job was not to change the world (although her choice of obedience did lead to world change by becoming an ancestor of Jesus Christ). Her job was to be obedient to the Lord and peacefully welcome the spies’ interruption into her home. She was placing her new faith in the One True God.
Are you desperate today? Or are you content to sit in your own little world entertaining yourself?
If you are desperate, be ready for God to interrupt your life. He is seeking men and women who are willing to welcome interruptions and say yes to Him. Who knows what your “yes” will lead to?