Remaining Obedient When You Feel God’s Pull

For months, I had felt a pull.

A pull, knowing God was at work in my life. That change was coming. That something was developing, and all I had to do – or could do – was sit and wait.

And obey. But really, just wait and trust. Because I knew searching for this change wasn’t the right path to take. And not my path.

I received an email one day asking me to consider being part of a group that would serve as “chaplains” at an area school during a crisis. To work alongside community leaders with a school that not only cares deeply about the welfare and mental health of their children, but of their extended school family.

It was a chance to serve. But before the initial meeting, I kept wondering, “Are they sure they want me?” and “Why me?” And also, “Is this part of what I’ve been feeling lately?” With the pastors and community leaders I saw on the list, I was humbled, certainly. But still, curious.
At the initial meeting, we were told, “If you’re wondering whether you belong here, you do.”
And I had to suppress as much as I could my smile, knowing this was the work – if even part of it – that God was working through me. The pull – or part of it – that I had been feeling for months. It was an opportunity He was providing to serve. A glimpse of the continuous story He is writing.

I had to be faithful to that. I crave serving. And in ways that involve my passions. And in ways that force me to grow and step outside of my comfort. With people I cannot only walk alongside, but also learn from.

I had to remember to stop doubting. Stop wondering. Worrying. “God isn’t worrying what you’re worrying about,” I was told recently.

So why was I?

Have you ever wondered what God has in store for you, and then received an answer so clearly, that all you can do is suppress a smile in a room full of people you’re about to walk beside in stressful situations? Because the answer you received was the exact question you asked?

I had to whisper the quietest of whispers that day, “Okay… okay.”

I whisper a lot. Usually, it is in response to something God has worked so magnificently around me – in personal situations, at my job, my family, relationships – that all I can do is sit in awe.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

We talk a lot about looking back on our lives or situations and see how God worked and brought us to where we are today – how all the hardships helped us become stronger, better. But how often do we trust Him in the process?

How often do we trust that when we feel that pull, that we can remain obedient? That in our prayers, we don’t ask over and over what it is we’re feeling. That we don’t question God why it is taking so long to produce a change we know is coming? A change we feel in our soul.

Because when we can do this, when we can trust fully, it will build our faith and increase trust in all situations. And our faith becomes strengthened in trusting a God sovereign over our lives. And when we trust, we believe in His steadfastness.

Trusting during that pull means we are certain that during both our difficult and good days, that He is working through us.

This isn’t just about being invited to a meeting and being asked to serve with a dozen others. It is about remaining faithful and continuing to serve not others, but God – first. And allowing everything else to fall into place.