Is God Calling You to Do a Hard Thing?

Do you ever feel like God is asking you to do a hard thing?  Do you quickly dismiss it out of hand thinking God must have the wrong person?

 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.  You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.

Exodus 4:10-15

When God Asks You to Do Something Difficult

I have recently been guilty of wanting God to send somebody else.  My husband recently applied for a pastorate position, and I came up with every reason why I didn't think we were ready for such a calling.   And although some of those reasons are certainly valid, I was more convicted that I would have forgone those valid concerns and went for it if it wasn't for the fact that it would cause us to have to do hard things - moving from the house we have been in for almost 30 years to a home a half hour way, and starting a new life at age 55...

Coincidentally, my sweet sister in the Lord just did a very hard thing in answer to a call that the Lord had placed on her heart many, many years ago - a call to move from the East Coast to the midwest to establish a sanctuary where Pastors and Believers could come for a time of rest and refreshing, to gather together in prayer, in the Word and in nightly hymn singing.  The Lord even provided the name for this place of rest, Herrnhut, to be modeled after Ludwig von Zinzendorf's, Herrnhut.   

"Herrnhut was a busy and industrious place. Spinning, weaving, carpentry, pottery, farming and missionary training went on unceasingly. Each evening Zinzendorf selected a scripture to be the watchword for the next day. Often he wrote a hymn to accompany the word. Saturdays and Sundays were days of prayer and worship. Almost every day, each band met to exhort, reprove and pray for one another. Single women and single men lived in separate buildings. In a special home, the children of missionaries were cared for. Truly Herrnhut became a remarkable experiment in Christian community as well as a major catalyst for Protestant missions."   {Excerpt from Christianity.com}

My friend prayed earnestly and waited upon the Lord for years concerning this matter.  Then a couple of months ago, the Lord started to open doors, setting in motion this calling that He placed on her heart a long time ago.  A calling that required hard choices and heartache - uprooting her precious family with her husband and two small children, leaving her mother and sisters, brother-in-law, nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles, the only home she had ever known, moving halfway across the country, stepping out purely in faith and obedience to her Lord and Savior.  

As I watched my friend move away in the Lord's strength, her incredible testimony of obedience wrapped up in profound humility convicted me...  I was so easily dismissing a calling that could move me just a half hour away.  She was leaving family and friends to move halfway across the country - still with much uncertainty as she trusted and waited on God...

What Does the Bible Say About Doing Hard Things

God's Word helps to shed light on the hard things that the Lord asks us to do...

Abraham was asked to do an unthinkable hard thing - sacrifice his son Isaac!

Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you...

...When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 

Genesis 22:2,9

Why did the Lord ask Abraham to do such a thing??  

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Genesis 22:11

The Lord tested Abraham's faith and he was found obedient.    

“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,  I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,  and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Genesis 22:16-18

This wasn't the first hard thing Abraham was asked to do...   

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives 

And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; 

Genesis 12:1

The Lord had a specific purpose for Abraham.  He equipped him, and strengthened his faith through the first call...

You CAN Do Hard Things When the Lord Calls You To

The Lord, in His infinite wisdom and understanding has also set us apart for specific good works... 

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

Good works which may come in the form of  hard callings...

If I were to think about the hard things I have felt the Lord calling me to do, I can see where the Lord has provided opportunities to exercise my wings, maybe not in an obvious way at the time, but in retrospect, certainly a precursor to the hard calling...  

In facing the possibility of the hard calling of moving a half hour away from the home I lived in for almost 30 years, and starting a new life as a Pastor's wife at 55, I can look back and see God's precursors...

At 23, newly married, my husband and I drove to our new home, four hours away from our families. I left the home I grew up in, my parents, and my baby brother who was only 12 at the time, watching them disappear in the rear view mirror...  I also left behind my 20-year-old brother, my nana and my grandparents...

Fast forward to many years later when I was a Pastor's wife for two years at a small country church. After that season, I served as a ladies Bible study facilitator, mentored young moms and spoke in front of women's groups.  

It would seem the Lord had been preparing me for this possible hard calling...  

Or,  through the memory of those experiences, He is strengthening my faith to willingly obey in the hard thing whether it comes to fruition or not...  Like God tested Abraham's willingness with the sacrifice of Isaac.

The next time God calls you to do a hard thing, ask the Holy Spirit to show you where He has already exercised your wings in that area - reminding you of His provision,  encouraging you to be obedient in what He has called you to do.

The Lord may also call us to do a hard thing without any remote experience in the area whatsoever.  

But His promises tell us...

His presence goes with us...

It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.

 Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

He equips us...

Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:21

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power.

2 Timothy 1:7

He provides for us...

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare

 and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8

He has created us with specific gifts...

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

1 Peter 4:10

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them

Romans 12:6

Trust the Lord when He Asks You To Do Something Difficult

The next time we are called to do a hard thing for the Lord, we must trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and lean not on our own understanding, and press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Our Lord and Savior was called to do the hardest thing.  He was called to be scourged and crucified, to feel the full weight of the sins of the world upon Himself, to be separated from the Father and to die an agonizing death...

Yet  for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The joy that was set before Him is the same joy that will be ours!  Let this promised joy spur us on to obedience in the hard calling knowing that one day we will be in the presence of Almighty God and will hear...

  ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:23

For similar posts, please click on the following:

God's Call: The Lord Equips

God's Call: The Lord's Presence

God's Call: The Lord Sets Us Up For Success

Are you timid about sharing your faith? 5 Confidence Boosting Motivators for the Timid Evangelist

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