Are you willing?

Sometimes when I go into a prayer for Rhema, I have an idea of what I am supposed to say but I need it to be fleshed out. Today, I went empty and the Lord responded with a question. In a completely quiet moment, I heard Him ask, “Are you willing?” I felt it all the way in the pit of my stomach and knew that this was going to hurt my feelings! He flashed Isaiah 1:19 before my eyes. You know the one. “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;” (NKJV). He said, you have been obedient but you haven’t always been willing.” (*immediately starts shaking head, and quickly goes to dictionary)

The definition of willing in the Cambridge English Dictionary is to be happy to do something if it is needed, not opposed to doing something; ready or eager to do something. Well that pretty much shuts the party down from the start. Here’s my truth and maybe you will see some of you!

I’ve always been obedient. It usually tears my nerves up if I am intentionally not doing something that I have been told to do. But willing? Not so much! Which means that I have done some things with a bad attitude and gone places with the wrong intentions. Am I alone? What I have realized over the years is that if I cannot do something with the right attitude and motives then I might as well not do it. The Lord convicted me with this question this morning because I know that He has called me to do some things in the Kingdom that I have been obedient to but not willing. You see Isaiah 1:19 says that if we want to eat the good of the land then obedience alone is not going to get it. You need to be eager, ready, happy and not opposed to it. What about you? When you were called to pastor, did you go willingly? When you were told to stay at that church and serve, did you do it willingly? When you were told to go to the streets instead of the nations, did you go willingly? You see, obedience without willingness only takes you part of the way. You will still eat but will it be the best you could have? Be willing...

A lot of us have been told throughout our lives that obedience is better than sacrifice. It’s Bible, right?! But it made sense to me this morning like never before. Sacrifice is giving up something that you don’t really want to give up. Isn’t that the opposite of being willing? So of course, obedience is better than doing something that you do not necessarily want to do. Willingness, however, is to do something eagerly! Do you see where I am going? Being willing means that you take the instruction and you come into agreement with it. It means that you respond with your spirit and not your flesh. Your spirit is attached to the Holy Spirit and therefore wants what He wants. So when the Lord tells you to do something, it should be a willing response. Your flesh thinks about the discomfort and the change. It reminds you of how hard it will be and who won’t like it. Your flesh does not want to do what the Lord is saying. But its time to follow the Spirit! Be willing…

So can we have a truth moment? In this passage of scripture, God was talking to a rebellious Judah through Isaiah. He was tired of giving and His people not changing. The entire chapter is His unhappiness with their attitudes, their half obedience, and their insincere worship. He wanted change and not lip service. This is at the heart of the Lord’s question today. Are you willing?  Think about it! Have you thought about how He sees your attitude or your resistance? You have obeyed in a lot of things but willing you have not always been. The Lord called you, and you ran. He promised to equip you, you questioned. The Lord moved you, and you struggled. He told you to forgive, and you held on. He set you free, and you went back. What if you decided to switch the game up today? What if you decided that it is better to willingly follow the Lord no matter where He takes you? What if you decided that instead of just obeying, you want to be happy about it? Aren’t you ready to eat the good of the land? I know I am! I want my yes to be heard with joy and not with the echo of “He made me do it”.  Come on, men & women of God…be willing!

Amen