How many times, do we bargain with God over the ministry opportunity being offered to us or the place He wants us to serve? How many times have I heard someone say to God, "I'll go anywhere, Lord, but please don't send me to Africa"? I wonder if the early Disciples had places they weren't too eager to visit with Jesus. We know that Nathanael didn't have a very high opinion of Nazareth or the people who came from there, and some of the Disciples didn't really want to go to Jerusalem for what turned out to be Jesus' final Passover with them.
As we get more involved in Christian ministry, there are certain areas we feel gifted in and willingly take on any challenge, but there are others where we don't feel the call is meant for us and we resist the instruction to "put our foot into the Jordan during flood stage" choosing instead to wait for low tide or any alternate route to the "promised land".
Yesterday, Karen and I took what was supposed to be a two hour round trip ride to Tucker, GA and it was six hours from start to finish when we returned to Madison. Our GPS, Irma, a tried and true road warrior for the past 8 or so years, warned us about 10 miles before we reached the intersection of I-20 and I-285 that we were facing a delay and asked if we wanted an alternate route. At first I resisted but when we had passed the first suggested detour, I latched onto the second and off we went on some two-lane small town ventures. We saw some new sights, made it to Tucker and spent some time visiting our new friends, ate lunch and started the trek home, when again we met the 5.5 million Atlanta area residents all on the same road we were on, going virtually.....nowhere. By the time we reached Conyers, and the obligatory Hobby Lobby stop for my plastic canvas needs, we were out of the highway standstill, but into the local street standstill and the two block crawl to get back on I-20 and the final 30 miles back home.
We did stay reasonably calm throughout, are still talking to each other today, made it without seeing more than a few fender-benders, stalled cars, tow trucks and flashing lights on police cars. But I now have a new prayer........Send me anywhere, Lord, but please, please, please, don't send me to Atlanta.
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