But, Lord....

First Sunday School, then the sermon. Ever have one of those Sundays when you received a double dose of "okay, God, are You trying to tell me something"?

Yesterday we talked about Mary. How God called her to do a mighty job. How she said, "Yes, Lord". Luke 1 was used in both Sunday Schol and the sermon. The theme? It basically boiled down to obedience and our response.

Here are a few things that got me thinking:

First, in Sunday School, one person brought up Mary's response (Luke 1:34) compared to Zechariah’s response (Luke 1: 18-20). Both asked a question. However, Mary, being young, had that child like belief. “Okay, I heard from God and it must be so! I'm with ya God!” As we get older, don’t we often question if we really heard from God? And apparently, even if God sent you an angel you still can question. We tend to question if we are really “hearing” things correctly. “Okay, God. I think this is what you said. But if you don’t mind, please send me 100 signs—clear signs—so I know it is really You.” When did I loose that child-like trust?

In the sermon, obedience was brought up again and also noted Mary’s response. "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." (vs 38) How many times have we answered “But, Lord…..”? Our pastor compared that to saying “But, I…” making it into a “me, me, me” response. Shouldn’t our response be, “Yes, Lord!”? Now, don’t get me wrong, there are proper times to say, “Let me pray about it” when someone asks you to do something in ministry. There are also times when you know God is speaking directly to you. Those are the times a quick, "Yes, Lord!" come into play. Am I quick to say "Yes, Lord" at those times or does He need to "pound me over the head" until I see God is definitely directing my path?

How will you respond next time God comes-a-callin’? I know I’ll be thinking about that one for a while.