God can use a reluctant heart

There is a misconception that when you are in the will of God, you want to do everything that God is calling or asking you to do. I have heard many people say, “Before I came in to ministry, I was running from God.” But we can run from what God wants us to do even if we have been walking with him for a while.

The prophet Jonah had a reluctant heart. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it.  However, Jonah objected to this because he knew that God was gracious and that if the people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways and turned to God, God would not destroy them. The people of Israel were at odds with the people of Nineveh and so Jonah did not want to see any good come to them, so he fled. After God chastised Jonah for his disobedience, Jonah relented and preached to the city of Nineveh.

As we can see from reading the story further, Jonah did not preach hoping the people of Nineveh would be saved. He did not preach with compassion. He preached only because God commanded him to and he was being obedient to the word of the Lord. In Jonah’s heart he had more compassion for a tree, than he had for an entire city of people. (Jonah 4)

There was a night when I was angry with my husband. I did not want to speak with him, or even see him. But the Holy Spirit said to me, “Go to him, he is hurting.” Even though I did not want to go, I wanted to be obedient to God, so I went. God used me to bring comfort to my husband even though my heart was reluctant.

So many times we hold ourselves back from doing something because we think our hearts have to be right first. “I can’t go to church because I have to get myself together first.” “I can’t speak a word of encouragement to that person, because my heart is not right.” “I can’t preach or teach the word because my heart isn’t right.” God does not command, “Get your heart right.” That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. He commands us to obey.

In the book of 1 Samuel chapter 15 God commanded Saul to destroy all of the Amalekites including their livestock. But Saul left the choice sheep alive and even their king. He excused his behavior by saying he was going to use the sheep as a sacrifice to the Lord.  But Samuel rebuked him saying, “…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:22-23). Because of Saul’s disobedience, the kingdom of Israel was torn from his hand.

You may not want to do what God has commanded, it may not feel good to you, your heart may be stubborn, but God will deal with your heart. Work out what He has called you to do and your heart will follow. By not obeying the Lord, you could be standing in the way of your own blessing.  Obey the Lord God and watch what He will do.