What Hinders Your Purpose?Sýnishorn

Delayed Obedience and Complacency

"The Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai: “Nineveh is a big city. I have heard about the many evil things the people are doing there. So go there and tell them to stop doing such evil things.” But Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. He went to Joppa..." Jonah 1:1-3 (ERV)

God gave Jonah an instruction in Jonah 1:2, but Jonah didn't obey until the account in Jonah 3:3. While we are not sure of the exact timeline between these chapters, the sequence of events that follows after God's instruction to Jonah shows that everywhere he went while running away from his assignment, he brought chaos and misfortune to those places until he heeded the call.

Do you know that delayed obedience is still disobedience? Partial obedience or incomplete obedience is still disobedience. Pastor Rick Warren once wrote, "Imagine if a parent tells a child to do something and he or she says, “I’ll think about it.” Wouldn’t there be consequences? But we do that to God all the time. God says he wants us to do something, and we say, “I’ll think about it.”

Delayed obedience is not only dangerous; God is not pleased when we try to run away from our purpose and calling.

In John 9:4 (NLT), "We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work."

There is a shelf-life to everything. Your assignment here on earth is not an open-ended one; it is time-bound. The Psalmist says, "Without delay, I hurry to obey your commands (Psalm 119:60).” When you look at your purpose through the lenses of time and its brevity, it should arouse a sense of urgency and a focused devotion. Delayed obedience is dangerous.

Complacency will hinder our purpose. Those who live to the fullest of God's call for their life are those who embrace their purpose early. Jesus was already at the temple at the age of twelve learning from the Rabbis. While we still have the strength and vitality, creativity and drive to go after our dreams and God's purpose for our life, we must do it swiftly because the night is coming. When we all get to the "departing lounge" of life and look back in our twilight years, we should all be able to say, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith, just as Apostle Paul declared.

Working in your purpose honours God. Please, stop putting it off. Remember, your purpose is not just about you; it's also about the people God has sent you to.

Mordecai said to Esther, “Esther, don’t think that just because you live in the king’s palace you will be the only Jew to escape. If you keep quiet now, help and freedom for the Jews will come from another place...And who knows, maybe you have been chosen to be the queen for such a time as this.” Esther 4:13-14(ERV)

You've been called and divinely equipped for such a time as this; it is time to arise and heed the call, it is time to stop running, it is time to say to God, I am ready, use me, Lord!

What is He asking you to do or become? Will you answer His call without delay?