“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NAS)

Do you respond to God’s direction, even when you don’t understand what’s going on?

Part of the strength God gives you to “do all things through him” is the ability to choose to do his will, even before you know the full implications of what that means. He will begin to change your “wanter,” developing within you more and more of a ‘want’ to do his will.

But this is where we often stall in our steps toward being more like Jesus. We get into a battle of wills with God, wanting him to reveal his plan first, and only then – when we have a full understanding of his plan - will we decide to respond, or not.

But that has us walking by sight, and not by faith, the exact opposite of how God teaches us to walk: “We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Am I willing to decide – in advance – that I will do what God asks me to do, no matter what it is? Am I abandoned to him and his will, believing he will strengthen me to do all the things he asks? Or do I behave as if I believe I am the final judge of what is best for my life: “God, show me the whole plan, wait for me to understand, and then I’ll decide whether or not to do what you ask.”

The Good News is that, even if you’re not ready for immediate obedience, God will give you strength to be honest with him. He already knows about your hesitancy, so he won’t be surprised by prayerful confession, such as: “Father, I'm not sure I'm ready to do your will. I don't know if I want to do it or not.”

Yet God is gracious and patient. Tell him, “I don't know that I’m willing to step out in faith without first knowing everything that’s going to happen, but I'm willing to be made willing.”

So what?

· Build your confidence in God – Each time you take a step of faith, your confidence in God will increase, as you see that he is waiting for you on the other side of your decision.

· Polaroid vision – Each time you take a step of faith, God will reveal more of his plan to you. It’s what Rick Warren calls “Polaroid vision:” You can see God’s picture developing, but not all of it is visible right away.

· Grow into God’s vision – You may be frustrated that God hasn’t shown you the whole picture of his vision for you, but he may be holding it back because he knows you will be overwhelmed by what you see. He’s calling you to a God-sized mission, one that will appear impossible for you to complete. But that’s the point – there’s no way you can fulfill your mission without God and his strength working within you.

· Relax in God’s will – If you think discovering and following God’s will depends entirely on you, then you’ll probably start getting nervous, wondering, “Am I taking the right step here? Have I missed something?” God doesn’t need you to figure it all out; he’ll provide the answers as you need them.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

The God-adventure is a sweeping dance of redemption as he moves through history, coordinating circumstances and events in order to bring as many people as possible home to heaven.

Oswald Chambers calls God “the Great Engineer,” the one who keeps all things moving toward a purpose, a climax in history (which is his story). God’s tale is a tear-filled romance in which he pursues those he loves, regardless of whether they love him back. It’s a nail-biting drama in which he launches a rescue mission for his children, who are held in captivity, and he arrives in the perfectly planned nick of time.

In God’s story, his children follow him in faith, yet even the most faithful stumble and fail. But the story doesn’t end there! God redeems even the worst mistakes, making all things work together for the good of those he calls his own.

This is a story of majesty, power, and infinite grace – a story about a God who speaks the world into existence and sets the moon and the stars in place, yet who also cares for every detail of your life. God rescued you from captivity, and now he wants you to join him in other rescue missions, bringing more of his children – your brothers and sisters – home to the Father’s house.

Even now, you are part of God’s story, but he’s calling you – listen! – calling you to see and understand and live according to the scope and magnitude of his grand adventure.

So what?

· God, the Great Engineer – Your whole life has been a sweeping dance of redemption as God coordinated circumstances and events in order to bring you home to heaven. He’s kept all things in your life moving toward his purpose. How would you live differently if you truly, deeply – in faith – believed this is true?

· Jesus writes your story – Jesus is the author of your life story. Let him direct your life, guiding you on your mission, the work that God has given you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of your faith, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross and its shame and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

· Realize how much is at stake – Let God show you that the world is so much bigger than your little backyard. In God’s adventure, you’ll be part of the great rescue mission that crisscrosses the planet. Through God’s adventure, you’ll experience real life – the way God intended for it to be.

· Question to consider: How will you tell the story of your life differently, now that you know you’re part of God’s great rescue mission?

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

The God-adventure is a sweeping dance of redemption as he moves through history, coordinating circumstances and events in order to bring as many people as possible home to heaven.

Oswald Chambers calls God “the Great Engineer,” the one who keeps all things moving toward a purpose, a climax in history (which is his story). God’s tale is a tear-filled romance in which he pursues those he loves, regardless of whether they love him back. It’s a nail-biting drama in which he launches a rescue mission for his children, who are held in captivity, and he arrives in the perfectly planned nick of time.

In God’s story, his children follow him in faith, yet even the most faithful stumble and fail. But the story doesn’t end there! God redeems even the worst mistakes, making all things work together for the good of those he calls his own.

This is a story of majesty, power, and infinite grace – a story about a God who speaks the world into existence and sets the moon and the stars in place, yet who also cares for every detail of your life. God rescued you from captivity, and now he wants you to join him in other rescue missions, bringing more of his children – your brothers and sisters – home to the Father’s house.

Even now, you are part of God’s story, but he’s calling you – listen! – calling you to see and understand and live according to the scope and magnitude of his grand adventure.

So what?

· God, the Great Engineer – Your whole life has been a sweeping dance of redemption as God coordinated circumstances and events in order to bring you home to heaven. He’s kept all things in your life moving toward his purpose. How would you live differently if you truly, deeply – in faith – believed this is true?

· Jesus writes your story – Jesus is the author of your life story. Let him direct your life, guiding you on your mission, the work that God has given you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of your faith, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross and its shame and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

· Realize how much is at stake – Let God show you that the world is so much bigger than your little backyard. In God’s adventure, you’ll be part of the great rescue mission that crisscrosses the planet. Through God’s adventure, you’ll experience real life – the way God intended for it to be.

· Question to consider: How will you tell the story of your life differently, now that you know you’re part of God’s great rescue mission?

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1 NIV)

Next time you bite into a hamburger, I want you to think about how your trip to the fast-food-burger-barn can become a “spiritual act of worship.”

Yes, really.

The Apostle Paul calls us to be living sacrifices, alive in Christ – moment-by-moment being conformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ. Our spiritual act of worship includes gratefully acknowledging that our heavenly Father is still on the throne of grace and that he has the right to guide us, lead us, and prompt us about any particular thing we do or any specific decision we make throughout the day, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Eugene Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases Paul’s words this way: “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering ….” (Romans 12:1a MSG)

In other words, your whole life becomes an act of constant worship when you live, work, and breathe as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23)

Paul’s language in Romans 12 refers to the work required by priests to prepare the temple for worship; he’s suggesting that the mundane tasks of the temple are acts of worship equal to the seemingly more spiritual moments of community worship. Time warp into the present and think of it like this: God can be worshiped as well when you vacuum the carpet in the worship center as when you stand in the same place during a worship service.

Paul continues in his letter to outline specific and practical behaviors that can be offered to God as acts of worship as we, living sacrifices, move from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. By giving up our own choices and preferences in deference to others, we please and worship God.

Now, you may be thinking, What does this have to do with ordering a burger and fries at the fast-food-burger-barn?

Let’s step into that answer with a confession about myself: You could say I’m in recovery for impatience, a sin I took my sweet time to confess before God. (Meaning God showed patience at my impatience!) When you get honest about it, impatience is a form of pride. It says: “I require immediate attention (because I’m too childish to wait).” “My time is more important than the time of others.” “I know better than anyone else what must be done.” “My need is urgent; everyone else, get in the slow line.”

Yet Paul says that when we sacrifice our own choices and preferences in deference to others – when we honor others over ourselves – we please and worship God. (Romans 12:1, 10) Eugene Peterson suggests Paul is saying, “Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.”(Romans 12:10 MSG)

As I read this passage, I felt the Holy Spirit’s nudging – you know how that goes – “Hey, this passage is about you and your impatience; now what are you going to do about it?” My immediate answer was ... to head off to the fast-food-burger-barn for some “comfort food.”

It was lunch time, and as I was walking into the burger barn, I started jockeying for position, trying to get through the door before any slow looking people got in front of me. As I grabbed for the door, the words “Practice playing second fiddle” lit up my French fry-deprived mind like neon sign energized by the Holy Spirit. And in that moment, God spoke into my thoughts: “What does it matter in eternity if I get my Big Burger Deluxe 35 seconds later than someone else?” I stopped and opened the door so the people behind me could go through in front of me.

Here’s my point: Allowing others to go before me when I was in such a rush went against my natural inclinations, but God was telling me to sacrifice my natural tendencies, to lay them on the altar before him so the Holy Spirit could energize my actions. As Ian Thomas teaches, God replaces our instincts with the Holy Spirit.

By practicing at playing second fiddle, this mundane moment became an act of worship: “God, I have failed so often to honor others over myself, but I want to start now. I acknowledge you are my God, and I am submitted to you. You are a great and gracious God, and you will take care of me, so it does not matter when I get to the front of the line, or if I even miss this one meal.”

This thought of worshiping God in all we do, think, and say is a difficult truth to handle, and I am way at the back of the line in understanding it and living it out. In fact, it seems quite impossible.

I can’t, but God can.

So what?

· Honor God in all you do – “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering ….” (Romans 12:1a MSG)

· Go with faith, not fear – As God guides you to places in your life where you’re still not living in sacrifice (that is, being a living sacrifice), ask him to show you what specific fear is keeping you from the faith of your living your everyday, ordinary life before God as an offering.

· I can’t or I won’t – When God confronts you with a natural instinct – a portion of your life where you tend to be self-centered instead of other-centered – ask him to show you the difference between “I can’t change ….” and “I won’t change ….”

· Pick one behavior – Read through Romans 12:6-17 and pick one behavior that you need to offer before God as part of your living sacrifice. Chose an area where you are weak but willing to submit to God’s great and gracious strength.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

The God-adventure is a sweeping dance of redemption as he moves through history, coordinating circumstances and events in order to bring as many people as possible home to heaven.

Oswald Chambers calls God “the Great Engineer,” the one who keeps all things moving toward a purpose, a climax in history (which is his story). God’s tale is a tear-filled romance in which he pursues those he loves, regardless of whether they love him back. It’s a nail-biting drama in which he launches a rescue mission for his children, who are held in captivity, and he arrives in the perfectly planned nick of time.

In God’s story, his children follow him in faith, yet even the most faithful stumble and fail. But the story doesn’t end there! God redeems even the worst mistakes, making all things work together for the good of those he calls his own.

This is a story of majesty, power, and infinite grace – a story about a God who speaks the world into existence and sets the moon and the stars in place, yet who also cares for every detail of your life. God rescued you from captivity, and now he wants you to join him in other rescue missions, bringing more of his children – your brothers and sisters – home to the Father’s house.

Even now, you are part of God’s story, but he’s calling you – listen! – calling you to see and understand and live according to the scope and magnitude of his grand adventure.

So what?

· God, the Great Engineer – Your whole life has been a sweeping dance of redemption as God coordinated circumstances and events in order to bring you home to heaven. He’s kept all things in your life moving toward his purpose. How would you live differently if you truly, deeply – in faith – believed this is true?

· Jesus writes your story – Jesus is the author of your life story. Let him direct your life, guiding you on your mission, the work that God has given you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of your faith, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross and its shame and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

· Realize how much is at stake – Let God show you that the world is so much bigger than your little backyard. In God’s adventure, you’ll be part of the great rescue mission that crisscrosses the planet. Through God’s adventure, you’ll experience real life – the way God intended for it to be.

· Question to consider: How will you tell the story of your life differently, now that you know you’re part of God’s great rescue mission?