Lay It on Me

D ATERS AND R OMANCERS / 25

lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God (Ruth 1:16). H OW M UCH D O Y OU W ANT I T ? How much do you want God's perfect will and direction for your life? Do you want it enough to spend all night praying? Is it important enough for you to spend your evenings alone while others are out having a picnic or going to the theater? Do you desire His perfect will to the extent that you would pack up and go where you have never been before? If necessary, would you leave home and the security of those you know just to minister to people you have never seen? Are you willing to leave your past behind in Moab? Are you willing to go into the new territory of Bethlehem? Are you willing to step out, as Abraham did, "going and not knowing?" How determined are you to do the will of God? You must remember that being in God's will can often be difficult and, at times, lonely. In my early ministry, I spent five years traveling alone to towns I had never been in, staying in strange homes among unfamiliar people. I often had emotionally bad times because of bad experiences. I remember going to churches to preach revivals, only to discover that the meeting had not even been announced. Posters our office had sent in advance were discarded beneath the pulpit. In instances like this, often half the congregation stayed home the first night.