February 2021

“God doesn’t want you to be happy,
God wants you to be obedient.”
Tom Shrader

I’ve been reminded of this quote from Tom a lot lately, likely because there just seems to be a whole bunch of people out there that are not happy these days. I am not going to even begin to extrapolate “why”, but I am sure it has to do with this extended period of social distancing, masks, politics, social tensions, remote working, and the general malaise that most of us feel after months and months of stress and disruption.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying (nor was Tom) that God doesn’t care. God IS caring and is ALWAYS good, but happiness (verses joy, peace, contentment, etc.) was not high on God’s list for His children. You see, God has something much bigger planned for us. He has a role for us in HIS story and His story stretches out over centuries.

We think of our finite lifetime, whereas God gives us eternity.

We think about fleeting and instantaneous happiness, whereas God gives us everlasting joy.

We think about making the most of our lives, whereas God reconciles and redeems our souls into right relationship with Him.

We love our temporal world, whereas God offers us eternal life with Him. “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinth 4:18)

Umm, where are you going with this and what does this have to do with anything? I’ve got bills to pay, work to do and well, stuff. . .

Why am I going down this road? I have been listening to Tom’s six-session series on Jonah https://www.prioritylivingaz.org/audio-archives/2015/5/7/introduction-to-jonah and was reminded “there is a little bit of Jonah in all of us.”

Jonah didn’t want to listen to God.

Jonah thought he could run away and hide from God.

Jonah didn’t want to save the people of Nineveh.

Jonah was angry that God was merciful and patient with the Ninevites.

Jonah thought he knew better than God.

Yep. There IS a little bit of Jonah in all of us. We think we know better than God.
News Flash: We don’t!

God is waiting for us. To be obedient. To turn to Him. To seek Him above everything else. And, like God’s call to Jonah, God commands us to share His love, grace, and mercy with a world that is angry and unhappy. God is calling you, His child, to share the Gospel and His grace with those across the aisle, with those who disagree with us, with those who are HARD to love, and even with those we think are beyond redemption.

Yes, with THEM.

You can do this. I am sure. Because I know God. As His children, He gives us the ability to love in every context of our lives, including our homes, churches, workplaces, communities, neighborhoods, financial choices, words, and actions. We can do this because He first loved us, and He profoundly loves us now.

Will you be obedient to what and whom He has called you?

Will you join with Him in His bigger story?

He is exactly what this broken world needs right now. He is the joy you are looking for.