Moses argued with God about whether he was the man for the job. The job was going back to Egypt, from which he fled as a fugitive, to tell Pharoah to let all of the Israelites go free. It did not sound like a winning proposition to Moses, but if you’ve read Exodus, you know it turned out fantastically. Best not to argue with God.

Gideon was not at all sure about being called to lead the fight against the Midianites. They were without number and a powerful military force, while Israel was weak and floundering and Gideon’s family was about the weakest of the weak. It took God being very patient and reassuring, but Gideon finally accepted the mantle of leadership. Wow, what a victory he ended up bringing for Israel (see Judges
6-8)! Only God could see that coming. Best to trust God for the outcome.

Jonah ran the opposite direction from where God was telling him to go. God had to put him into a storm to get him to fess up to his disobedience. Then he spent 3 days inside a great sea creature where he learned repentance. When that creature finally burped Jonah up on the land, God’s message to him was the same, “Go to Nineveh and preach”. Had Jonah submitted to God from the start, he sure could have
avoided a lot of trouble. Obedience is the best course of action when God is telling you the most right thing to do (see the book of Jonah).

Ananias was afraid to do what God told him to do, which was to preach the gospel to a man who was putting preachers in jail (see Acts 9). But things had changed, and God is the one who brought about that change. Even when we can’t be confident in the circumstances, we can still be confident in the God who sends us into them. He does not make mistakes in judgment like we do. Ananias went, and ended up
baptizing the man who would evangelize the entire Mediterranean world and write half of the New Testament. So, when the going gets scary, the scared get going….. to do the will of God in spite of their fear. That’s faith.

Join us this week to look further into the lives of these four men and learn what we can from their experiences. Don’t argue, fear or rebel…. just come. Ha!

You’ll be glad you did.