After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him

to every town and place where he was about to go… The seventy-two returned with joy

and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:1,17)

When you obey God, He will accomplish His purposes through you. And when He accomplishes

something that only He can do through your life, you will come to know Him more fully. On the

other hand, if you don’t obey God, you’ll miss out on the most interesting and exciting

experiences of life.

In the days of Noah, the LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become. So,

He said He would wipe out mankind from the face of the earth. But Noah walked with God. He

found favor in the Lord’s eyes. Therefore, God chose to save the human race through Noah’s

family. He revealed to Noah what He was about to do and told him to build an ark. Noah did

everything as God commanded him to do. The writer of Hebrews includes Noah as one

example out of many, whom God found commendable, because they obeyed God by faith.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save

his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness

that is in keeping with faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

When I reflect over the life of Lexington Rescue Mission, I can now look back over the nearly

twenty years that I led the Mission and I’m still amazed at what God was able to do through our

obedience by faith. Our growth can only be attributed to the faithfulness of God.

I consider that our best decisions were made at a time when circumstances indicated that a

decision had to be made. Even a decision to do nothing different demanded a conscious choice

to do just that. I also had to recognize that I could not accomplish the intended purpose on my

own. It would require God’s help for it to be successful. In this way, I knew that God would

receive the glory that only He deserves, and I would be blessed through the experience of

seeing God at work.



As you look to see where God is working around you, think about how exciting it would be to

see God working through your faithful obedience to Him. I pray that you will discern what God is

inviting you to do for Him and that you will step out in faith, not by sight!

By Jim Connell

Jim is the founder and retired director of Lexington Rescue Mission and the author

JesusIsLordBlog.com