March 19: Ignore and Keep Working.

Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

Under normal circumstances this response from Peter would have sounded rude and prideful. Especially when it came to dealing with the spiritual leaders of the time. But this circumstance was far from normal. These so called religious leaders not only had Jesus crucified, they actively opposed anything to do with even mentioning His name. Earlier, we see that the disciples were imprisoned due to their preaching of the Gospel, and an angel of God rescued them and commanded them to continue preaching. When the Pharisees found out that even the prison walls could not bind them, they resorted to threatening them.

But the apostles were not going to sit around and do nothing simply because they were threatened by the leaders of their time. Rather they were going to obey the command of their Master before He ascended to the heavens “Go into all the world and preach the gospel..” They had seen and experienced enough of Jesus’ power including Him being raised from the dead, that nothing or no one was going to stop them. They had a job to do. And they were going to do just that.

There will be times in our lives when our calling is in direct conflict with man’s suggestions and ideas for us. People may not always actively oppose your call, but they can certainly distract from you from fulfilling your call. Either way, it is our choice on which path to choose. There is the man’s way or there is the God’s way. While there is nothing wrong with getting good counsel from friends and family, do not let anyone hinder what God has called you to do.

I’ve known people that have been stuck in churches they don’t want to be part of, but have no choice because their parents or ancestors are part of it. Carrying the traditions of the ancestors is given more priority over fulfilling the calling of God over them. And much of what God has in store for them is missed out due to that. I’ve also witnessed Christians scared of saying anything about God or witnessing about Christ to their colleagues for fear of what the authorities might say or fear of losing their job. There are so many hidden Christians in the corporate workforce who won’t give any hint of the fact that they are a Christ follower, again due to fear of repercussions by man.

But why do we fear man? Jesus said “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt 10:28) Doesn’t it make more sense to worry about how God would feel when we do not obey His commands, versus how man would feel when we go against their orders? What’s worse – losing our jobs or going to hell? Something to ponder about, but hopefully not for long. The answer should be obvious.

The truth is people will always opinions and suggestions about anything and everything. And most of the time, those suggestions surface only when you start doing something meaningful for God. Until then no one has much to offer. It’s like a person who doesn’t know how to drive instructing you how to drive while sitting in the back seat! Remember Sanballat and Tobiah in the book of Nehemiah. No one knew where those guys were until Nehemiah started rebuilding the wall. But Nehemiah knew better and he did what Peter and the rest of the apostles did – Ignore and keep working. You’re doing it not because man instructed you, but because God did.