Standing Up for God’s Call

Moriah Peters waited nervously to perform before the celebrity judges on American Idol. The audition was the final step before getting on the televised show. When her turn came, she sang with confidence and grace. The judges made positive comments about her voice and her look. But they had read how Moriah felt called to purity in her life and wanted to save her first kiss for marriage. They told her to go live a little, kiss someone, and then try out again.

In spite of her abrupt dismissal, Moriah trusted that God was in control. Then, on her way to the car with her parents, a man approached her. He’d heard Moriah’s voice and her stand for purity and he wanted to introduce her to a music producer in Nashville.

Today, Moriah has recorded two studio albums and fills arenas with fans who are drawn to her unique voice and all-in heart for God. She is also married—to the first man she ever kissed.

It wasn’t easy for Moriah Peters to talk about purity in front of the very people who could reward her with fame and fortune. But it was the right thing to do.

Moriah Peters, like Abraham in the Bible, learned that you had to be willing to let go of earthly dreams to embrace the Lord’s call. Abraham had waited years to have a child, choosing to believe God’s promise that he would be the father of many nations. Yet God called Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Abraham didn’t try to justify disobeying God. Just as he had chosen to believe that God would give him a child, he chose to obey Him. At the moment that Abraham let go of the very dream that God had given him, God provided a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place.

The ram in Abraham’s story has become one of history’s greatest examples of God’s grace and provision. It is a reminder that you and I, like Moriah, can be on the lookout for ways God is providing for us today when we choose to put obedience for him above our own earthly dreams.

Has God given you a dream that you are pursuing?

What signs would warn you that your passion for your dream has replaced your passion for God?