What's the Hammer For?!

Have you ever prayed a prayer similar to this? "God please just show me what You want me to do and I'll do it!" I know in my life I have prayed this prayer sometimes until I'm exhausted! I always find though, that God never seems to reveal His plans to me in great detail. If I get direction from God, it's usually a one-step plan.
I'm the type of person who wants to know all the details as soon as possible so I can get things done as quickly as possible. When I get home from the grocery store, I must get all of the bags inside in one trip as quickly as possible. My husband says I'm a "one-trip" kinda girl! If I walk up in the middle of someone telling a story, I need to be caught up on the details I missed as soon as possible! I'm always looking for a quicker way to do a task, even if that means taking a short cut. I like to know what's going on, I like to be informed, and I like to move quickly!
You can imagine the frustration of someone like me when God only reveals one step of His plan at a time. Sometimes I think, "You know God, if you would just go ahead and tell me where this all ends up, I could probably come up with a shorter way to get there!" Now of course I don't say that to God, but He knows that's what I'm thinking! "God, just go ahead and lay it all out for me so I can know what's going on!" He never does. It's always just one, small, SLOW step at a time! And even then it's not very detailed! So as I read this morning about a conversation God had with Noah, I was blown away and even filled with a little bit of envy at what I saw!

Genesis 6:12-22

And God said to Noah,"I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

"Excuse me! God are you kidding?! You told Noah everything he was supposed to do and all that would happen to him and his family!" Now wait a minute, this just doesn't seem very fair. But just as I was starting to let this ruffle my feathers a little bit, I realized how overwhelmed I would've been had God told me I was going to build an ark, and that he was sending a flood to kill everyone on the earth except for me and my family! I also thought about how impatient I would have become when I built the ark and then had to wait on the right time for God to send the rain. You see, I'm quite sure God didn't choose me to build the ark for good reason. I'm pretty sure if I had been the one God wanted to build the ark, the scripture would've read quite differently. This is more like the story of Heather and the Ark:

And God said to Heather, "Get up." So God waited for Heather to get up and then said to her, "Look for a hammer." So Heather asked God, "What do I need a hammer for?" But God said nothing. Heather asked God again, "Why do you want me to find a hammer? What am I going to do with a hammer?" And God said, "Heather, go get a hammer." So Heather went and got a hammer. Then God said, "Go get some wood." And Heather replied, "But wood is heavy, if you would just tell me what you're going to do with the wood, I might can figure out something else to use that isn't so heavy and won't give me splinters!" But God replied, "Go get some wood..." ...You get the idea...

You see, I realized something else in Genesis 6. Verse 9 says that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and Noah walked with God. Could that also be said of me? As righteous as I would sometimes like to think that I am, I hardly think arguing with God and refusing to trust Him when He tells me part of His plan is what you call righteous. I'm realizing my attitude needs to be less of "God, why do you want me to go get a hammer?" and more of "God, I will walk with you and trust you completely as I go to the store and buy a hammer."

So if you're frustrated with God right now because you wish He would just show you what you're supposed to do with your life, I would encourage you to stop, think back to the last thing you know He told you to do, and do it without questioning while you walk with Him in righteousness. Trust that He knows what's best for you. The truth is, most of us couldn't handle the stress of knowing that God wants to use us to build an ark! If we knew the extent of what God wanted to do through us in this moment, it might blow us away because we aren't ready yet. Let's begin 2011 by walking with God in obedience, a step at a time, so we will be prepared for whatever He's got right around the corner for us! I think it's huge!