Friendly advice isn't always Good advice

A few weeks ago, God gave me a task that I really dread doing. There's something I need to do that requires a lot of bravery on my part and it also requires that I become the "better person". How on earth was I going to do that? I had no idea where to start, so, I called a friend.

That was mistake number one. The friend was very supported and started offering me lots of ways to climb the wall that I was just afraid to approach. "Just do it", he said. "How?" I asked over and over. I just don't know how. So then came the slew of suggestions. "How bout you do it this way, or that way, or this other way." In my mind, none of those things would work. As a matter of fact, his suggestions made the wall appear taller and scarier each time.

I couldn't do this. I told God the wall was way too tall for me to climb so I just was NOT going to do it.

Then.... I stopped listening to my friend. Somewhere in the cloud of my mind I heard the still small voice again. "I didn't ask you to do it the way your friend wants you to do. I just asked YOU to do it. Do it the way you feel comfortable, one step at a time, the wall doesn't need to be climbed in one day."

Wow, suddenly the way became clear and I figured out my first step.

Sometimes when God asks us to do certain things, we tell our friends and they try to "help" us do it. They tell us that it needs to be done this way and that. They tell us that we need to do it now, later or tomorrow. They mess with our thought process so much that we end up afraid to do the thing God asks us to do that we thought was totally possible. Now, after all the wonderful advice, we find the task impossible.

Our judgment has been clouded by people with good intentions. Sometimes, when God is asking us to do something, it's a good idea to wait for Him to tell us the when and the how. Whilst our friends can be wonderful sources of inspiration and comfort they are also excellent sources of confusion. They can drown out God's voice and help us make choices that we should not have made.

In this situation, I almost became a Jonah and pulled "a Nineveh" on God. I'm NOT going to do it I said and got on board the next ship that would take me as far away from this thing as possible. Then came the storm and I ended up on my way to Nineveh in the belly of a fish.

So, here's my little snippet of advice, the next time God asks us to do something, wait for His when and how. Don't tell your whole clique. If you need help, find the one person who will direct you to wait for God's push. We all have one of those friends, one who will say "so what is God saying to do?" Find that person and they will hold your hand through the process. Don't let someone else make you believe your task is insurmountable simply because they want you to do it their way.