When what God asks doesn’t make sense…

UMM, can we talk about this? Let me ask you this, WHEN HAS WHAT GOD ASKS EVER MADE SENSE?!

A friend and I were giggling over this the other night…

“Part the waves Moses!”

“Kill your son Abraham!”

“David, you little shepherd boy, go and slay that giant!”

ZERO SENSE. NADA. ZIP.

And somehow I am always surprised when God asks me to do something that just doesn’t make sense. As if I am an exception in all of history!

One of my favourite no-sense moments in our faith is when God asked Mary to bring His very own son into this world. Few people realize Mary, though married, was a consecrated virgin. So, when an angel shows up and asks her to have a child, she says, “LORD, THIS MAKES NO SENSE!” Just kidding, she was much more gracious and said, “But how can this be?”

my reaction when God asks me to do something…

Mary’s reaction when God asks her to do something…Complete docility. (Bl. Virgin Mary by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato)

I’m beginning to see though, that whenever God asks us to do something that doesn’t make sense, it’s because He longs to surprise us. Like an excellent lover who knows exactly what flowers to surprise you with, God knows us right down to the smallest details and intricacies of our hearts. He knows how to surprise us with surprises that are good.

He is a master storyteller who knows just where the plot twists and how to end with a bang. But all this, only for those who are courageous enough to see the story through…

Imagine if Moses hadn’t trusted. Waves would never have parted.

Imagine if Abraham hadn’t brought his son up the mount. He never would have known God’s faithfulness or grown in such abandonment.

Imagine if David didn’t stand up. Little shepherds everywhere would never take on giants.

His ask might not make sense in your life. I know it sure as heck doesn’t make sense in mine, but I want to trust Him.

And I think that’s all it really takes, one YES to wherever he ‘no-sensically’ asks you to go. Mary did it and look what happened. History forever changed. It’s dawning on me that our YES could change the world too.

Won’t you join me this Lent and say yes?

It might not make sense, but if you wait it out, I think you’ll be surprised…

~ E