Two Dangerous Questions: #1

Dangerous questions are part of life. The questions themselves are simple and straightforward; it’s the answers that are risky because of their consequences.

Without question, the most dangerous question you will ever be asked is, “Do you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?” The answer to that question not only affects your earthly life, but also your eternal destiny. The stakes don’t get any higher.

But for most people, there’s a second dangerous question. Like the salvation question, the answer to the second one will change the rest of your life. A man and woman stand before a church altar dressed in their finest. The minster asks each one, “Do you take [this person] to be you’re cherished [spouse], to live together by God’s grace in the scared relationship of marriage? Will you love, honor and support [the person] in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only for [the person] as long as you both shall live?”

On October 6, 2012 Connie and I will marry before family and friends. I know with all my heart that when the minister asks me the question, my answer will be a joyful “I do.” I love Connie and want to spend the rest of my life with her. But I’m also aware that my life will change significantly and permanently. With my answer, and the minister’s pronouncement, I move from being single to married, fiancé to husband, and admirer to lover.

No doubt the salvation and marriage questions are the two most dangerous questions in life. But every day during my Quiet Time I ask God two other dangerous questions. Like many of you, I meet with God sometime during each day. I worship Him, spend time in prayer, read the Bible, and seek His guidance for the day ahead.

I start each Quiet Time by asking Him, “What do You want to say to me today?” At the end of my devotional time I ask Him, “What do You want me to do today?” The questions are dangerous because His answers tend to be personal, specific and unexpected.

Two months after my first wife died, I left my job and career to face an uncertain future. One day, as I was reading Habakkuk 2, I asked God, “What do You want to say to me today?”  Right away verse 2 jumped out at me: “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Although this isn’t verbatim, I sensed God whispering to me, “Steve, there is a purpose for these events that involves your time on earth between now and when you die. Today isn’t the right time for Me to reveal My plans, but when I do it will be the truth. And although it may seem forever before I tell you, I promise the answers will come.”

Within 6 months I was in Angola, Africa – a place I never thought I would ever visit. The trip awakened in me a desire to minister in emerging nations around the world. Over the next few years I visited Africa twice more, and also served in Honduras and Russia.

Eventually God led me to start Designed to Serve, a 501(c)(3) Christian charitable organization dedicated to equipping believers to know and live out their unique God-given calling. Although I don’t understand the full revelation, I’m very glad I asked God that dangerous question. For I know I’m where He wants me to be, doing what He’s called me to do.

Why not begin your next Quiet Time by asking God, “What do you want to say to me today?” It’s likely that His answer will affect your life in ways you could never imagine.

© Designed to Serve®