Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:17).
I never expected that God would speak so clearly in a place so devoid of all forms of modern communication, but he did just that.
Throughout my visit to Cuba I had been wrestling with this question: How does one see a nation changed? Like a briar stuck to my clothing, I couldn’t shake it. How can Cuba, the United States, or anywhere else be changed? Even deeper still, how could I encounter more life change? Or how could loved ones experience deep life change?
The challenge of Rev. Nehemias Cardenas, National Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church of Cuba, shook me with words so clear they could not be ignored.
“Our greatest challenge as a church is not financial. It is our willingness to trust God and act on what we know to be true.”
He spoke with such clarity and conviction that I knew they were for me in that moment.
Our challenge is not financial. By all global comparisons we are loaded.
Our challenge is not a lack of resources. A simple Google search yields more resources than previous generations would have known in a lifetime.
Our challenge is not a lack of communication ability. From my iPhone I can make a phone call, deposit a check, order a pizza, check my Facebook, and play a quick game of Angry Birds.
The great need today is for each of us to trust God fully and act on what we know to be true. I like the sound of “trust God fully” as it rolls off the tongue. But I am challenged by the “act on what we know” part of that equation.
I know that God is at work, but I get fearful.
I know that God is stronger, but I sometimes doubt.
I know that God is in control, but I watch the evening news.
It’s always stretching to act on what I know about God and how he operates, but whenever I do I always reap a reward.
Courage. Faith. Strength. Resolve. Hope.
It is in the place of acting on what we know that God demonstrates that he is in control and acts on our behalf. Further, every time I act on what I know, I have a deeper resolve to act courageously again in the future.
How can you do the same? How can you trust God fully and act on what you know in complete obedience to him?
