Remember when the students at Asbury prayed in the chapel for a period of weeks? The whole country took notice of the peculiar events at the small college in Wilmore, Kentucky. Students from across the country came and stood in line to see if it were true. The revival spread to other campuses as well. But some were skeptical. “Are we sure this is real? Are these students doing revival in the right way?” some wondered aloud.
No good deed goes unquestioned. After Peter led the first Gentiles to faith in Jesus, some of the more rigid Jewish believers in Judea took Peter to task. He reported back to Jerusalem and experienced criticism. “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” These angry legalists were more concerned about Peter breaking the law than they were grateful for the salvation of the Gentiles.
Peter retold the story of his own vision to them to explain how God spoke to him. In no way did Peter set out to cross the boundaries of Judaism. God directed his steps.
Without question, we must exercise discernment. But our rigid systems of explanation about how God can and cannot work are so often rooted in hyper-rationalism. We know how God works and it is not like that. Our points of view may be valid. But God’s view is sovereign. We may be sure that God knows what he is doing, even when we don’t.
Henry Blackaby put it well, “Find out what God is doing and join him in that work.” Where do you see God at work today? By all means, join him. If God is doing a great work somewhere in the world, ask that he might do it in the circle you draw around yourself.
