By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“When the Lord makes it clear you’re to follow Him in this new direction, focus fully on Him and refuse to be distracted by comparisons with others.”
― Swindoll Charles R.

I used to be a supervisor at a retail store. Every day, I would come in to work and my manager would give me a list of all the things that needed to be finished by the end of my shift.

I remember one day specifically, he showed me a section of our store. He said, “I need all of this to be reworked and organized. See how there’s a bunch of different products all in one place with no rhyme or reason? Just clean it up a little. If you have any questions or need any guidance, feel free to text me. I’ll just be sitting at home.”

As soon as he left, I set myself to my task. I moved things around, shuffled things about, rehung toys, and reprinted tags. It took me the entire shift and I was proud because not once did I have to text my manager. I was given a job and I finished it without calling upon him once.

The next day, I came back into work, ready for the praise I was going to receive from my manager after he saw the expertly arranged section. Instead, I saw that the area I had worked so hard on was completely rearranged. It looked nothing like I had left it.

My manager approached me, “I had to redo the section I told you to work on last night. It was all wrong. Nothing that you put there was supposed to be there. If you had a question about where something was supposed to go you should have texted me. I would’ve answered.”

I think that it is all too easy to do the same thing to God that I did to my manager. We can put God’s call before God.

We spend so much time seeking His will and His guidance and when we finally receive clear direction, we’re ecstatic. We have spent so much time praying to God and waiting upon Him that when He responds, we’re happy! So, we dive right in and we follow His will to the best of our ability.

But, we make a mistake. Now that we have received direction it’s as if we don’t need God anymore. Just like when my manager gave me my task, I did my best but I failed to seek out his guidance. We can also follow God’s will and do it to the best of our ability, but we can cease our daily dependence on Him. We don’t seek out the wisdom and the strength that only He can provide.

Whenever God opens a door, gives you direction, lays out His plan, guides your path; don’t stop relying on Him. Don’t put the call of God above God.

Parents: Explain to your children how easy it can be to forget God after He calls us to do something. Think about a time in your own life when someone gave you a task and you failed to return to them for guidance.