In Mark 11 Jesus sent two of His disciples on an assignment. At first glance the assignment appears both illogical and insignificant. They were instructed to go into a village and find a colt tied up and bring the colt to Jesus. If anyone questioned them on this assignment they were told to say, "The Lord has need of it and will return it immediately."
Totally illogical. This assignment involved two disciples in essence taking a donkey colt that did not belong to them. It did not make sense. That would be like you and me going into a neighborhood and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle that does not belong to us and taking it saying Jesus has need of it. It does not make sense to human rational.
When teaching on this passage recently I asked people if Jesus had ever assigned them to do something illogical. One lady commented that the Lord has been waking her up and laying it on her heart to help a neighbor clean her house for thirty minutes for four straight days. In her mind it did not make sense but she is going to follow through.
God often assigns people to do illogical things. I have read stories of people giving up lucrative careers to go and be missionaries. Illogical. I read the story about a successful model that got saved. She became convicted about photo shoots of lingerie and selling provocative clothing that promoted sex. Eventually she felt God calling her out of the modeling business. Illogical from the world's perspective. Once God called me to give away a vehicle when I did not have another one or the means to buy another one. Illogical. Brenda and I recently visited with a lady that told us she and her husband have a dream and desire to one day be able to give someone a house. They are blessed financially and extremely generous with their money. Illogical. Who gives people a house?
Be careful that you do not talk yourself out of God's assignment just because it does not make sense. It will come down to trust. Those two disciples had to trust that there would indeed be a donkey tied up and they would be given permission to take the donkey. It did not make sense but they believed anyway.
Jesus' assignment also appeared to be insignificant. In the big scheme of things going to get a donkey did not seem like a big deal. The truth it was a big deal. It was the fulfillment of several hundred year old prophesy about jesus from Zechariah 9:9. We do not always know the significance of our assignments.
There is the story about a snowy morning long ago when the preacher could not make it to the church to preach. The crowd was small but a guest showed up. One church member stood up to preach in the pastor's absence and low and behold the guest prayed to be saved. That guest turned out to be the famous pastor Charles H. Spurgeon.
I taught this message to a small crowd on a Wednesday night. There were a dozen people present. I knew the crowd would be small. I thought back to times when God's assignment called me to preach before hundreds and even over a thousand. His assignment on that night called me to teach to a dozen people. He still wanted my best. [Col 3:23] We only see in part. We do not know the full implications of God's assignments. I God assigned the task to us there is significance in it.
In the end God expects our completion of the assignments He gives us. He demands our obedience. [I Sam 15:22] It does not matter how illogical or insignificant the assignment may appear. We must obey and complete the task. What is God calling you to do? What decision are you going to make? Will you trust Him and obey or rebel?
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